High-grade hits at Sand King have OBM excited about increased gold production potential. Pic via Getty Images
New high-grade results at Sand King boost potential for second Ora Banda gold mine
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- New high-grade intercepts have further improved Sand King’s underground gold mining potential for OBM
- Phase 1 drilling at the prospect has been highly successful and nears completion
- An expanded Phase 2 drilling program of $2 million is imminent
Special Report: Ora Banda Mining has delivered a fresh batch of high-grade results from intercepts at its underground Sand King gold prospect – within the large Davyhurst tenement package in WA.
WA gold miner Ora Banda Mining (ASX:OBM) has delivered further news from Sand King that bolsters the firm’s belief the prospect could be developed into an underground gold mine of significance.
If its potential is realised, Sand King would become the company’s second gold mine in the area, adding to its existing, flagship Davyhurst Gold Mine, some 53km southwest of Menzies and 100km northwest of Kalgoorlie, Western Australia.
Needless to say, this would be a huge value driver for Ora Banda.
Phase 1 drilling at Sand King, which sits within the Siberia project hub – part of the vast, 1,100km2 Davyhurst tenement package – is now almost done and dusted with just three more of 33 holes to be completed.
The Davyhurst tenement package’s other highly prospective projects areas include Mulline, Riverina, Davyhurst and Callion. Along with Siberia, the current resource base for the projects sits at 1.8Moz, at an average grade of 2.7g/t gold after a recent resource update.
Assays for the first 17 of the 30 drilled holes at Sand King have now confirmed outstanding intercepts, notes the company.
Results ‘conducive to underground mining’
Importantly, the fresh results demonstrate widths and grades that Ora Banda’s geological team notes are conducive to underground mining and have further expanded the Sand King mineralisation area.
The system has been extended to 1km of strike and 300 metres below surface and remains open in all directions.
Just some of the latest intercepts highlighted by the company include:
- 2.4m at 35.8g/t including 1.5m at 58.8g/t;
- 11.5m at 6.1g/t;
- 4.3m at 11.8g/t including 3.9m at 12.9g/t;
- 8.0m at 6.6g/t including 7.0m at 7.4g/t;
- 9.0m at 3.1g/t including 6.3m at 4.1g/t; and
- 3.5m @ 7.6g/t
Another factor to note: nearly all holes drilled at the Siberia complex to date are less than 100 metres in depth, meaning the underground exploration search windows are still largely unexplored.
Regarding the results and all Phase 1 drilling so far, Ora Banda Mining’s MD, Luke Creagh, said:
“The success of this program to date cannot be understated given the first 17 holes received from Sand King have intercepted numerous high-grade gold zones of good width, as well as extending known mineralisation in all directions.
“The assays received to date, coupled with the rapid growth in our geological knowledge and advancements in structural modelling essentially means that Sand King is now presenting as highly prospective for our second underground mine.”
What next?
Beyond the imminent completion of Phase 1 drilling, the company plans to get cracking straight away on Phase 2 – a $2 million drill program that will continue uninterrupted over the next two months.
“This exploration work at Sand King dovetails into Ora Banda’s core business goal for 2024, which is to find and develop a second underground mine to support Riverina,” added Creagh.
“If achieved, the business will be in a step change position whereby the 1.2mtpa Davyhurst process plant will be full of high-grade ore and our production rate will increase substantially.”
This article was developed in collaboration with Ora Banda 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.
