Argent Minerals restarts drilling at Pine Ridge gold project to complete phase two program
Argent Minerals anticipates it will release a maiden resource for Pine Ridge once all data is at hand from the phase two drilling program.
Argent Minerals (ASX: ARD) has restarted reverse circulation drilling at its Pine Ridge gold project in New South Wales’ Central Tablelands.
The company will undertake the final five holes of a phase two program with total drilling to amount to about 700m.
These final holes will wind up the phase two program, with 16 holes for 1,918m already completed.
Assays from the completed holes were all received by August and revealed numerous high-grade intervals.
Highlight results were 6m at 10.52 grams per tonne gold from 60m, including 2m at 27.94g/t gold from 62m; 6m at 3.67g/t gold from 64m, including 1m at 12.5g/t gold from 68m; and 13m at 3.2g/t gold from 56m.
Argent managing director George Karageorge said the company was “very pleased and excited” with the assays it had received to-date from the second round of drilling at Pine Ridge.
He said the high-grade gold and thickness of mineralisation intersected was “highly encouraging”.
Maiden resource
Mr Karageorge said he was confident the remaining five holes of the drilling program would deliver more high-grade gold.
The results from drilling so far will be used to underpin a maiden resource for Pine Ridge.
It is anticipated the final five holes of the program will be completed before the end of the month.
Advancing Pine Ridge
As well as drilling, Argent plans to release the results from a review of previous geophysical surveys and modelling.
A third phase of drilling will then be undertaken early next year after targets have been generated following interpretation of geophysical and drilling results.
Pine Ridge is about 65km south of Bathurst and hosts the historic namesake gold mine.
The project also hosts numerous other historic gold mines that were operated from the 1820s until the 1940s.
NSW Government reports state grades in excess of 250g/t gold were mined.
Recorded production across the project was 6,864t of ore at variable gold grades.
Argent conducted a maiden drilling program at Pine Ridge in 2019 that returned a standout intercept of 19m at 3.2g/t gold from 98.4m, including 1m at 40.7g/t gold from 106m.