Drilling at Great Southern’s Mon Ami project has significantly expanded the known depth extent of high-grade gold mineralisation as well as confirmed the gold mineralisation within the area identified for near-term open-pit mining.

The standout shallow intersection from the latest results is 4m grading 6.6 grams per tonne (g/t) gold from 8m including 2m at 11.6g/t gold while the notable deep intersection is 10m at 2.7g/t gold from 241m that includes 5m at 5.2g/t gold.

Great Southern Mining (ASX:GSN) adds that high-grade mineralisation at the project now extends for 500m while remaining open along strike and at depth.

“This program was designed to resolve two key questions – whether there is scope to improve the economics and confidence of the mineralisation inside the proposed mining envelope, and whether there is underground mining potential. Both questions have been resoundingly answered in the affirmative,” chief executive officer Sean Gregory said.

He added that the recent results define a coherent main lode of mineralisation that is expected to improve the company’s upcoming resource categorisation upgrade and mining plans.

“The deeper high-grade drill intersections demonstrate the underground potential, which now justifies high-priority follow up drilling to delineate further,” Gregory noted.

“We continue to progress Mon Ami down the development pathway. This involves current resource and mining studies coupled with permitting processes targeted at obtaining mining approvals during H2 2021.”

All this bodes well for the company’s most advanced project with the company noting previously that drilling is expected to convert at least part of the resource to the higher confidence indicated classification that provides enough information on geology and grade continuity to support mine planning.

With multiple nearby mills, development of Mon Ami as a toll treat option would be expected to be rapid and potentially deliver a significant source of cash flow for Great Southern.

Great southern mon ami section
Long section looking east highlighting the recent drill results at depth. Pic: Supplied

Mon Ami drilling

Great Southern drilled 14 reverse circulation holes totalling 1,601m in January to define and extend near-surface, high-grade gold mineralisation to the south for incorporation into a targeted resource classification update.

Two of the 14 holes were drilled to test for possible depth extensions analogous to the 176,000oz Ida H deposit about 8km north of Mon Ami.

Of these, hole MLRC036 is considered to be very significant as it is the deepest hole drilled to date at the project with alteration and mineralisation widening at this location.

The company added that mineralisation is currently constrained only by drilling and demonstrates the potential for mineralisation to persist further down plunge and along strike.

Next steps

Great Southern plans to complete the resource classification upgrade for Mon Ami in the second quarter of 2021 and is also on track with the necessary technical and environmental studies to facilitate a mining approval in the second half of 2021.

The project currently has a resource of 1.1 million tonne at 1.7g/t Au for 59,000oz of contained gold.

Further assessment of the recent results is being undertaken for planning and design of a follow-up drill program.

This article was developed in collaboration with Great Southern Mining, 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.

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