Pantoro (ASX:PNR) has much to cheer about after receiving some promising high-grade gold hits from initial drilling at the Daisy South deposit of its Norseman gold project in WA’s Eastern Goldfields region.
Top hits from the first nine holes of the 28 hole program include 7m at 28.8 grams per tonne (g/t) gold from a depth of 102m including a 2m intersection grading an eye-watering 94.2g/t gold, or more than 3 ounces to the tonne, and 13m at 4.72g/t gold from 122m.
Grades above 5g/t gold are generally considered to be high-grade.
Drilling is focussed on extending the existing 15,700oz resource.
The un-mined Daisy South is about 400m along strike from the Daisy open pit, which was last mined 16 years ago, producing 63,000 ounces of gold at a grade of 4.03g/t.
“These initial results at Daisy South demonstrate the quality of mineralisation available for mining at Norseman, and we expect further results from Daisy South, Gladstone Everlasting and Scotia in the near term,” managing director Paul Cmrlec said.
“Drilling of the initial production targets is expected to be completed during the first quarter of the 2020 calendar year and will be followed by mine design and approvals processed required to convert mineral resource to ore reserves.”
Pantoro acquired its 50 per cent interest in Norseman just four months ago and already has three rigs carrying out resource development drilling.
The project was historically one of the highest grade gold fields in WA, producing 6 million ounces of gold since 1935.
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Meanwhile, Chalice Gold Mines (ASX:CHN) has identified a potential gold system after shallow drilling intersected anomalous gold at the Ironbark target within its Pyramid Hill gold project in Victoria’s Bendigo region.
The anomalous (low grade) gold was intersected over an area of about 500m by 500m and is broadly coincident with the interpreted outline of the Ironbark Diorite.
Results to date show that the anomalous zone is largely open to the west and open along strike to the northeast and southwest.
While no ore grade mineralisation has been encountered to date, the early indications from the shallow aircore drilling hints that the company is on track to find a higher grade trend.
The anomalous gold zone also has an extensive, coincident arsenic footprint that extends over an area of about 3.2km by up to 2.2km, which is open to the northeast and southwest.
Arsenic is considered an important pathfinder metal with other gold deposits in the Bendigo Zone.
Chalice plans to drill more shallow aircore holes this year to infill and extend drill coverage along with holes further along strike to refine the footprint of gold anomalism and define structural zones of interest.
Planning for deeper diamond drilling has also commenced.
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In other ASX gold news today:
Mandrake Resources (ASX:MAN) is carrying out assays of four diamond holes drilled by a previous operator at the Brinka Pine Creek gold project in the Northern Territory.
This is expected to provide insight into the structural setting of the Terrys prospect and provides an opportunity to assay zones prospective for mineralisation.