Junior explorer Aureka (ASX: AKA) has intersected shallow mineralisation in a new structure at the Comstock prospect within the St Arnaud gold project in Victoria.
The company reported 12 grains of visible gold measuring up to 1 millimetre in length from 127.6 metres depth within a steeply-dipping faulted laminated quartz vein, as part of a seven-hole diamond drilling program for a total 2253m completed in September.
The new structure sits sub-parallel to Comstock’s inferred resource of 1.45 million tonnes grading 1.2 grams per tonne gold for 56,500 ounces and had not been previously identified or exploited by legacy explorers and miners.
Extending the mineralisation
The discovery comes soon after the mineralisation at the main Comstock Shear was extended by up to 100m to the north with high-grade visible gold highlighted by a best assay of 1m at 65.37g/t from a shallow 116m.
It is proximate to the Wedderburn gold mill, which is owned and operated by small mining specialist Core Prospecting Pty Ltd, currently assessing pathways to bringing Comstock into small-scale production.
Discovery potential
Aureka exploration manager Jozef Story said the shallow intercept reflected the discovery potential of the St Arnaud gold field.
“Significant arsenopyrite and pyrite mineralisation have been observed below the near-surface visible gold and both are associated with laminated and brecciated quartz veins which we are confident is the northern extension of the Comstock Shear zone that has previously returned up to 109g/t gold,” he said.
“The new structure and visible gold have potential for continuity along strike and down dip and represent a new near-surface target for future exploration drilling and resource expansion.”
Stawell location
The Comstock prospect sits on the eastern margin of the Stawell geological zone of the Lachlan Orogen within the Saint Arnaud Group metasediments, which are unfossiliferous, quartz-rich turbidites assumed to be Cambro-Ordovician in age.
It sits within the historic St Arnaud gold field along the Nelson line of reef and is situated approximately 2 kilometres north of the township of St Arnaud.
Gold mineralisation at St Arnaud is hosted by quartz reef systems with steep plunging gold shoots within brittle fractures and faults that typically extend up to a few hundred metres along strike.
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