With 500,000oz of gold, Lefroy launches large maiden resource for ‘first of its kind’ Burns porphyry discovery

Lefroy Exploration has laid the foundation for the development of ‘significant new mineral district’ in WA’s Eastern Goldfields after releasing the highly anticipated maiden resource estimate for its Burns gold and copper discovery south-east of Kalgoorlie.

Regarded as a ‘first of its kind’ in WA, the deposit is hosted in multiple alkalic porphyry units and basalt which formed 2.6 billion years ago on the Archaean age.

Distinct from the narrow vein, quartz and shear hosted gold most commonly found around the WA Goldfields, the Burns MRE contains a substantial 43 million tonnes of ore at 0.36g/t gold and 0.14% copper for 497,000oz gold, 58,000t of copper and 489,000oz of silver.

Containing significant cobalt and molybdenum credits on top of that, 75% of the resource has been classified to indicated level, showing the confidence in the geological model and the drilling density.

Lefroy Exploration (ASX:LEX) says the Burns Central resource has strong potential to grow much further. Consistent gold and copper mineralisation is open in multiple directions including at depth.

An exploration target has been generated based on multiple Burns style porphyry gold and copper prospects along the 2.5km long Burns Corridor.

There could be more to come

Beyond that, Lefroy MD Wade Johnson thinks similar deposits could be found across the Kalgoorlie Terrane, with the resource coming as gold prices surged to near record levels of US$2014.30/oz overnight according to the LBMA.

“The delivery of the maiden Burns Central MRE demonstrates the existence of a substantial resource at the wholly owned Burns Gold-Copper Project,” Johnson said.

“This has been achieved in just two years since LEX’s exploration commenced at Burns Central in January 2021.

“Our MRE coincides with gold prices nearing record levels and future demand for copper skyrocketing, making the value of this gold, copper and silver resource considerable in current and projected market terms.

“The newly discovered Archaean porphyry gold-copper style of mineralisation at Burns Central is groundbreaking for the Eastern Goldfields. What we’ve found at Burns Central has laid the foundation for the potential discovery of similar deposits near Burns and possibly throughout the entire Kalgoorlie Terrane.

“We believe the gold-copper mineralisation discovered at Burns Central represents only the initial indication of a system of greater magnitude with huge potential for both lateral and depth extensions.“

Lefroy ASX LEX — 75% of the Burns Central resource is in the higher indicated category. Pic: Supplied (LEX).

Exploration target to extend Burns potential

Animated sitcom The Simpsons has brought joy to many over its three decades plus run on TV.

Should it be developed, Lefroy’s Burns project – which borrows its prospect names from Matt Groening’s iconic American series – should have investors drooling like Homer Simpson in front of a pink sprinkled donut for years to come.

Outside of the initial mineral resource there is not enough drilling density to add to the bounty just yet.

But a new exploration target suggests six prospects – Lovejoy, Skinner, Flanders, Smithers, Burns Central and Burns Deep – could host between 1.26-2.35Moz of gold, 244,000-645,000t copper, 1.68-3.06Moz silver, 9-18Mlb moly and 2900-10,300t cobalt.

While conceptual in nature, it provides a strong launching pad for Lefroy to tighten its drilling and firm up additional tonnes and ounces.

“Additional upsides of the MRE on Lefroy’s unique porphyry discovery are the success of producers with large mineral resources on the Project’s doorstep, and significant growth opportunities to expand the resource and to explore the multiple additional gold-copper targets along the immediate 2.5km Burns Corridor,” Johnson said.

“Preliminary indications from the geochemistry and aeromagnetic data point to further mineralisation at the Neon prospect in the north-west and large Burns intrusion in the west, which could extend mineralisation laterally, and along strike by at least 6km, and allow it to grow into a significant, new mineral district.

“I’m thankful to the persistence, confidence and patience of our team and backing of shareholders, and I’m excited by the transformational prospects this MRE presents to the Company, industry, and the Eastern Goldfields community.”

Growth strategy in motion

Lefroy has pledged to begin an extensive multi-phase exploration drill program to expand the Burns Central resource and evaluate the upside in the exploration target.

“The Company is incredibly excited about the potential scale of the system given the endowment of the maiden Burns Central Resource and the level of anomalism seen in the limited step-out drilling completed to date,” the company told investors.

The Burns style of alkalic porphyry can occur with clusters of numerous centres with small strike extents, which can add up to a system of significant mineral endowment.

Following that theory, a number of untested magnetic anomalies exist around the central Burns intrusion which remain untested and will be immediately prioritised for drill testing.

That includes diamond drilling to support a preliminary scoping study at Burns Central, extensional diamond and RC drilling to expand the resource to the north, south and west where it remains open, as well as diamond and RC drilling to evaluate largely untested gold-copper and geophysical exploration targets.

They include the 2.5km of strike to the north and south of Burns at Lovejoy, Smithers, Flanders, Skinner, Millhouse and Ralph, and an initial test of the Burns Intrusion which returned a hit of 17m at 1.7g/t Au from 75m in an RC program in January last year.

That will all be done over the next six months, leaving LEX in the best position possible to assess development opportunities at Burns Central and the wider project, part of the diamond program co-funded by a grant of up to $180,000 from WA’s Exploration Incentive Scheme.

RC drilling is also expected to take place at anomalies identified in aircore drilling on Lake Randall including Neon, Kenny’s Dream, Homer’s Inlet and Lucky Bay Extended, as well as the lake-based part of Lovejoy, where special lake walking drill rigs are needed to access the site.

Generative, widescale exploration including a major land and lake aircore program is also on the cards to target untested portions of the Burns project.