Alderan Resources intersects thick gold zones at Mizpah prospect in Utah
Drilling at Alderan’s Utah project has shown potential for the mineralised systems to be much larger than historically defined.
US-focused explorer Alderan Resources (ASX: AL8) has received assay results from the first six holes at its Mizpah prospect, which reveal gold mineralisation begins as little as 5m from surface.
The highest-grade interval was 1.5m at 3.96 grams per tonne gold, which was found in the core of the first hole drilled that assayed over a width of 21.33m at 0.69g/t gold.
The second hole returned 18.29m at 0.64g/t gold, including 4.58m at 2.83g/t gold, while other holes included high-grade intervals ranging from 2.57g/t gold and 3.96g/t.
These came from intersections over widths of 41.5m, 42.67m, 18.20m and 36.58m.
Results show thicker zones than 1980s drilling
Mizpah lies in the same rock units as does the historic Drum mine, just 2km south, which produced 125,000oz gold at an average 1.2g/t.
Mizpah was drilled in the 1980s but never developed into a mine.
Alderan managing director Scott Caithness said the assays received for the first six reverse circulation holes have confirmed gold mineralisation in zones thicker than was delineated in the 1980s.
Drilling between 1984 and 1989 by Western States Mining returned intersections of 10.7m at 2.2g/t gold from surface, 9.2m at 2.1g/t gold from 3m, and 12.2m at 1.7g/t gold from surface.
Mr Caithness said not only are the new intersections thicker, but the grades are higher than at many heap leach gold deposits in the US which are either producing or proposed for development.
“These drilling results are an excellent start for the Mizpah prospect,” he added.
Encouraging signs for two other gold targets
Assays from the remaining 16 holes are expected early in the December quarter (which begins on Saturday).
They also provide significant encouragement for exploration planned on the Basin Main and Midway gold in soil anomalies to the north and south of Mizpah, Mr Caithness said.
Those, plus Drum and Mizpah, lie within Alderan’s tenement which covers 6.5km of prospective host stratigraphy.
Basin Main, 800m north of Mizpah, is the most prominent gold anomaly in the soil survey.
The Midway anomaly sits between Drum and Mizpah.