The company identified gold in recent metallurgical testing. Pic: via Getty Images.
Golden Mile says Quicksilver could host an undiscovered ‘highly valuable’ gold deposit
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- Golden Mile Resources says metallurgical testing shows gold potential at Quicksilver nickel-cobalt project in WA
- Gold could be another revenue stream for the project
- G88 also confident of undiscovered gold source nearby
- Gold targets to be tested in conjunction with the proposed high grade nickel exploration drilling
Special Report: Off the back of recent metallurgical results at its Quicksilver nickel-cobalt project in WA, Golden Mile Resources is now looking into the gold potential of the project.
The project is a 26.3Mt oxide clay hosted nickel-cobalt deposit with some gold, rare earths and scandium on the side.
Recent work has identified five potential ore types and one industrial type that can be mined using low-cost, free digging (soft rock mining), including:
- Nickel–cobalt clay ore;
- High grade nickel mica ore;
- Iron-chromium-nickel-cobalt ore;
- High grade cobalt ore;
- Gold: Gravity table concentrate; and
- Silica aggregate.
Golden Mile Resources (ASX:G88) has been advancing Stage 3 metallurgical test work programs and quickly progressing towards a scoping study, the first proper look at the economics of building a project, and is particularly excited by the discovery of easily recoverable gold as a further potential revenue stream.
The company has now commenced further investigations into the exploration potential for gold at Quicksilver and has completed a detailed review of the existing data.
An undiscovered gold source nearby?
The discovery of gold with grades ranging from of 0.1 to 2.3 g/t in gravity table concentrates from all eight diamond core composite samples tested was one of the exciting new findings from the recent metallurgical test results.
The company intersected significant gold mineralisation in nickel-cobalt resource drilling of up to 1m at 4.1 g/t gold from 33m.
The separation of gold using gravity demonstrates free gold which is an indication the gold is supergene mineralisation – a major source of gold in WA.
And supergene gold mineralisation, not attributed to weathering of the host rocks, is strongly supportive of a local, undiscovered, primary gold source.
“The further potential of a significant primary gold mineralisation source in proximity to Quicksilver is hugely exciting and further testing in the short term will be conducted where synergies exist with the infill drill program and scoping study works,” G88 MD Damon Dormer said.
“The gold within Quicksilver will be a by-product of mining the nickel, and it will effectively have free-carry through both mining and processing making it a highly valuable, additional revenue stream.”
Gold targets flagged for testing
Several trends, presumed to be underlying structures, have been identified to date from detailed aeromagnetic data and the nickel-cobalt resource drilling.
These trends represent gold targets within the resource area that can be tested at the same time as the proposed high grade nickel mica exploration drilling.
The recent drilling was optimised for delineating nickel-cobalt oxide mineralisation and is therefore not ideal, in terms of drill spacing and orientation, to delineate the source of structurally controlled, primary gold mineralisation.
In addition, in the area where the highest supergene grade was encountered, the drilling did not penetrate the oxide zone and test the underlying primary rocks.
G88 says this area represents a compelling gold target.
This article was developed in collaboration with Golden Mile Resources, a Stockhead advertiser at the time of publishing.
This article does not constitute financial product advice. You should consider obtaining independent advice before making any financial decisions.
