Special Report: The shallow, super high-grade Grace prospect is looking to be a significant resource addition for the Youanmi joint venture between Rox and Venus.
The first hole in the JV’s 2020 drilling program returned a neat result of 4m at 69.5 grams per tonne (g/t) gold from just 28m, confirming the up-dip presence of a central gold-bearing lode at Grace.
Previous drilling by Rox Resources (ASX:RXL) and Venus Metals (ASX:VMC) at the Grace prospect had returned a 4m interval at 73.81g/t gold inside a larger 8m section grading 37.25g/t from 44m and 14m at 31.31g/t gold from 1m.
Rox says that Grace represents a new style of mineralisation within the Youanmi project area and provides further insight into the regional prospectivity beyond the existing resource base.
It previously noted that the current drill program would be used to accelerate a maiden resource for Grace.
The company also intersected new zones of mineralisation at Youanmi South with a hits of 4m at 7.4g/t gold from 60m and to the east of the United North Pit with a 24m intersection grading 1.5g/t gold from 56m.
“We are very pleased with the initial results from the Grace prospect drill out. Several parallel lodes within shear zones (in granite) are being delineated,” Rox managing director Alex Passmore said.
“These extend from surface to around 60m vertical depth so far and remain open along strike and down dip.”
Drilling is ongoing and Rox recently engaged a second reverse circulation rig for the Grace prospect.
The company is also planning to carry out diamond drilling and metallurgical studies to provide greater geological insight into the discovery.
The Youanmi gold mine, 480km to the northeast of Perth, produced ~667,000oz of gold at 5.47g/t during three main periods: 1908-1921, 1937-1942, and 1987-1997.