Alderan Resources reports exploration progress at Detroit gold project

Alderan Resources (ASX: AL8) has reported significant exploration progress at its flagship Detroit gold project in the US state of Utah during the June quarter.

Eight diamond holes were completed at the project’s historical Drum oxide gold deposit for a total 868.6 metres, targeting a verification of modelled remnant oxide gold mineralisation.

All the verification holes intersected more than 1 gram per tonne gold, which is consistent with holes drilled up to 35 years ago.

Best intersections were 6.3m at 2.9g/t gold within 16.2m at 1g/t below the north end of East Pit; 6.5m at 2.5g/t gold within 17.8m at 1.7g/t below the south end of East Pit; 6.1m at 2.3g/t gold and 3.2m at 2g/t, both from surface at the mined north end of West Pit; 3.1m at 1.1g/t gold from surface at the mined south end of West Pit; and 15.9m at 0.42g/t gold (waste dump) and 5.9m at 1.2g/t gold 150m down dip of West Pit.

Mizpah drill hole

One step-out diamond drill hole completed 350m northwest of the Mizpah oxide gold prospect and 2km north of Drum to a depth of 164.9m intersected 69m at 0.18g/t gold, suggesting the mineralised system could be significantly larger than past work has indicated.

Managing director Scott Caithness said drilling validated historic results from Detroit.

“Drill hole assays confirmed high grade oxide gold mineralisation left behind when mining ceased and provided confidence in our modelling of historical drill data,” he said.

“Importantly, the holes confirmed the mineralisation remains open.”

Drum North tenement

In June, Alderan secured a new tenement over 230 acres of land north of the Drum gold mine, in an area which bridges the gap between Drum and Mizpah to give the company an uninterrupted 6.5km strike length of highly prospective stratigraphy.

The same month, Rio Tinto (ASX: RIO) subsidiary Kennecott Exploration commenced drilling on the Copper Gulch magnetic and copper geochemistry anomaly at Alderan’s Frisco project.

Kennecott is a farm-in partner on the project with Alderan’s wholly-owned subsidiary Volantis Resources Corp and can earn up to a 70% interest by spending US$30 million in three stages over 10 years.

Kennecott’s first hole at Copper Gulch will be to a depth of 500m and is expected to be completed this month.

Valley Crossroads withdrawal

During the quarter, Alderan advised Utah-based Tamra Mining Company LLC of its withdrawal from an option agreement covering the Valley Crossroads project area.

The decision followed a review of historical drilling and sampling data and drilling of three diamond holes at the Black Rock prospect which did not intersect significant mineralisation.

Capital raising

This month, Alderan confirmed it would raise $1.3 million through a share placement to accelerate exploration at the Detroit project.

The company will issue 133.7 million new shares to investors at a price of $0.01 each together with a free attaching option exercisable at $0.016 and expiring three years from the date of issue.

Alderan also announced its directors would participate in the placement for an additional $150,000 worth of shares.

Funds raised will be used to advance a reverse circulation drilling program at Detroit and assess new US opportunities to strengthen Alderan’s project portfolio.