- Metallurgical drill hole DGR1396 returns 170m @ 4.13g/t from surface
- Four Pillars and West Winds continue to yield wide drill intersections
- Five drill rigs continue at Dalgaranga targeting further growth in the resource
Special Report: Resurgent gold explorer Spartan Resources is targeting rapid resource growth by mid-2024 as recent drilling highlights 20.5m of ‘Never Never’ style mineralisation logged 871.5m down-hole in further proof the mineralisation extends at depth.
Spartan Resources (ASX:SPR) appears well on its way to achieving its ‘drill and de-risk’ strategy at the Dalgaranga project in 2024, as ongoing drilling returned its deepest gold hit to date – 16.65m @10.29 g/t – in late January.
The stunning drilling results delivered throughout 2023 have continue to roll in this year with the latest batch of hits including significant intersections from resource in-fill and metallurgical test work.
Around 20.5m of ‘Never Never’ style mineralisation has been logged from 871.5m down hole, including small specs of visible gold logged at 878.7m down hole, more than 170m below the current 952,000oz resource, highlighting the growth potential at the deposit.
A 25.17m intersection @ 6.59g/t gold from a downhole depth of 448.3m, including 7.5m @ 13.52g/t gold, de-risks a key area of high metal content in the resource estimate.
SPR looks to convert more than 85% of the current resource to indicated classification.
Other Never Never assays include 170m @ 4.13g/t gold from surface, drilled at 75 degrees dip down-plunge through the Never Never orebody.
Over at Sly Fox – the highest-grade gold prospect at Dalgaranga before the game-changing Never Never discovery – results returned 23.83m @ 2.44g/t gold, including 5m @ 5.23g/t from near the very base of the declared resource, validating it as a legitimate priority target for 2024.
‘Crucial information’ for ore reserve and feasibility work
“This drilling is designed to provide increased grade, volume and metal content confidence to the Spartan engineering team,” SPR managing director and CEO Simon Lawson says.
“So far, the program is yielding crucial information for our ongoing ore reserve and feasibility study work.
“A recent example is metallurgical drill-hole DGRC1396, drilled inside the Never Never gold deposit resource and potential open pit, which returned a spectacular gold assay of 170m @ 4.13g/t from surface to the footwall contact,” he says.
“This result, while not useful in a resource estimation sense due to its sub-vertical drill angle, gives a useful insight into the down-plunge gold grade variability through any number of open-pit to underground design scenarios for the Never Never gold deposit.”
Onwards and upwards
SPR has a full set of priority drill targets for 2024 and believes it will continue to grow the potential value of existing assets as drilling continues.
Five rigs are currently operating at Dalgaranga, targeting further growth in the high-grade resource within 2km of the existing 2.5Mtpa plant and infrastructure.
This article was developed in collaboration with Spartan 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.
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