Bronco-Konik could seriously bulk up gold resources at Horse Well as it is not included in any historical resource calculations. Pic via Getty Images
Mining
Special Report: Ongoing work by Strickland Metals has demonstrated the Bronco and Konik prospects in the Horse Well area are part of the same structure and could represent a large bulk tonnage target.
Bronco was first discovered by Eagle Mining in 1995, with reconnaissance rotary air blast drilling carried out across the Horse Well area, defining a zone of gold anomalism 200m in length with values of >1g/t gold.
Subsequent RC drilling by Alloy Resources in 2019 returned higher-grade intersections of up to 1m @ 9.9g/t gold from 64, but failed to confirm the revised interpretation that potential high-grade mineralised structures are sub-parallel to historical drilling.
Meanwhile, Konick was discovered in 2023 when Strickland Metals (ASX:STK) drilled a 58m intersection grading 1.7g/t gold from 17m to end-of-hole.
This also uncovered a ~450m long anomalous gold trend.
At that time, STK thought the two prospects were hosted on parallel structures.
Ongoing work to collate, review and model data from last year’s drilling has now determined that Bronco and Konik are part of the same structure.
Rather than being seen as a shallow, high-grade oxide prospect, the Bronco-Konik prospect is now viewed as a large bulk tonnage target, with a high-grade oxide zone at surface.
STK chief executive Andrew Bray said the drilling at Konik had intersected the same basal horizon as observed historically at Bronco.
“This means both prospects are actually on the same structure, with the combined prospect area being a large bulk tonnage target,” he says.
“This new interpretation is also supported by other historic drilling, including HWRC125: 79m @ 1g/t gold from 10m – a result which lies in between Konik and Bronco, and which had historically never been fully explained or understood.
“Several Bronco intersections lend further credence to this interpretation, including HWRC072: 89m @ 3.0g/t from 18m to BOH, and the deepest hole to date drilled there, HWRC251: 95m @ 0.7g/t gold.
“Remodelling the prospect as a bulk tonnage target has allowed Strickland to determine the orientation of the mineralisation. The Bronco-Konik prospect dips to the west, plunges gently to the north-west, and remains entirely open both down-plunge and down-dip.
“The prospect area has also been expanded to approximately 500m of strike. Importantly, treating Bronco-Konik as a bulk-tonnage target does not limit the potential extensions to the higher grade zones of mineralisation intersected at depth.
“This development is also highly significant for Strickland as none of this gold mineralisation has been included in any historic resource calculations.”
STK plans to drill the Bronco-Konik prospect once the main drilling programs for 2024 get under way in April.
It is also continuing incorporation of the 2023 drilling data into a broader Horse Well project area review.
The company notes this work has yielded additional very promising advancements at several other prospect areas, the results of which are expected to be released over the coming weeks.
This article was developed in collaboration with Strickland Metals, 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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