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Lode looks to be sitting on a monster of a gold deposit in the New England Fold Belt
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Lode Resources has surprised even itself with the scale potential of its Uralla gold project, with the latest drill results from the Hudson’s prospect firming up the project as a large intrusive related gold system.
Lode Resources (ASX:LDR) has uncovered significant widths of gold mineralisation close to surface during drilling at the Hudson’s Prospect, indicating the bulk tonnage potential of its large Uralla gold project.
The company reported top hits of 15m at 2.09 grams per tonne (g/t) gold from just 12m, including 7m at 3.65g/t and 4m at 4.18g/t from 15m from recent reverse circulation drilling.
Mineralisation started from as close as just 9m below surface.
Shares gained over 11% to reach an intra-day peak of 20c on Monday following the news.
Lode Resources (ASX:LDR) share price chart
“Intercepting such wide zones of gold mineralisation at shallow depths in first pass drilling has substantially exceeded our expectation and this bodes well for ongoing drilling at our Uralla gold project,” managing director Ted Leschke said.
“The confirmation of Hudson’s Prospect discovery as a disseminated gold mineralisation with bulk tonnage potential is particularly significant as it is supportive of the broader Uralla Gold Field being a large Intrusive Related Gold System (IRGS).”
IRGS deposits can host millions of ounces of gold.
“IRGS deposits occur in specific tectonic belts around the world and are well known for their often-large gold endowment,” managing director Ted Leschke said.
“One of the largest IRGS deposits is the undeveloped Donlin Creek deposit in the prolific Tintina Gold Belt in Alaska which hosts +30 Moz.”
Uralla was one of the earlier goldfields discovered in NSW and a significant gold producer in the 1850s. Lode’s Uralla project is covered by two exploration licences that together span 300sq.km, which almost covers the entire historic Uralla Gold Field.
Lode has built a dominant position in the New England Fold Belt, which is estimated to have an in-situ resource value of just 2 per cent of the entire state due to a lack of exploration.
The company’s total landholding extends for 1,700sqkm.
Despite historical production of gold, silver and base metals, the belt has seen very modest drilling compared to the well picked-over Lachlan Fold Belt to the south. The New England Fold Belt has just one exploration hole for every 13 holes drilled in the Lachlan Fold Belt.
Great geological detective work on Lode’s part was what led to this new discovery.
Lode worked out what previous explorers didn’t – the gold mineralisation at its Uralla project isn’t just restricted to thin quartz veins but also occurs as disseminated high-grade gold in relatively unweathered siltstone.
This significantly increases the chances of outlining a bulk tonnage gold deposit.
And this latest discovery of strong gold mineralisation over substantial width at shallow depth is a strong reaffirmation of this disseminated gold mineralisation, Lode says.
That’s because this sediment-hosted mineralisation is likely to be significantly more pervasive than the narrower vein host gold mineralisation that was sole focus of historical mining and previous exploration efforts by other companies.
On top of that, a significant area of anomalous gold in soils could also suggest that the disseminated gold mineralisation is more widespread than previously thought and/or there are multiple mineralised structures with varied orientations hidden below soil cover.
Lode now plans to diamond drill test additional multiple targets throughout the Uralla gold project. The strong IP anomaly at Frazer’s Find is up next with drilling to begin in the very near term.
Located about 2km to the northeast of Hudson’s, Frazer’s Find has yielded very high grades of 76.9g/t gold and 1,110g/t silver in waste dump sampling. Lode believes prior shallow, blind drilling by previous tenement holders here was misplaced, having targeted old workings and without the benefit of any geophysics.
Assays have been received for 11 of the 12 reverse circulation holes drilled to test three targets at the Hudson’s prospect.
This article was developed in collaboration with Lode 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.
