Battery Minerals brings double barrelled action to White Rabbit hunt
Battery Minerals (ASX: BAT) has stepped-up its drilling plans to follow-up the recent gold discovery at Coxs Find with the mobilisation of a second rig to its Stavely–Stawell Project in Western Victoria.
In early June the company made a promising intrusion-related gold (IRG) find – which included the identification of visible gold – with its maiden drill hole at Coxs Find in the White Rabbit district of the rich Stawell area of Victoria.
Visible gold excitement
Hole 23BATDD002 was drilled into an intrusive complex hosting zones of sheeted quartz-sulphide veins and disseminated sulphides, with visible gold verified by hand held pXRF equipment, associated with quartz-sulphide veining at a depth of 200.1m.
The company has now brought in a second diamond drill rig to accelerate drilling activity in a 1300m program designed to test priority gold targets at the Coxs Find, Frankfurt and Cosmopolitan Prospects.
Battery Minerals management believes the identification of the intrusion-related gold mineralisation (IRG) in the White Rabbit District is significant as similar mineralisation has also been uncovered at the nearby, 300,000 ounce Wonga IRG Deposit.
Wonga is located just 12km northeast and at the southern end of the approximately six million ounce Stawell Gold Field.
Intrusion-related gold deposits (IRGD) are considered a major class of ore deposits, including various deposit styles as diverse as skarns, mineralised breccias, sheeted veins, and disseminations within or peripheral to the intrusion.
Induced polarisation targets
The current drilling focus remains at the main Coxs Find prospect, where induced polarisation (IP) geophysics defined a strong drill target down dip from the strong surface gold anomalism up to 430g/t gold in rock chips.
The company continues to reap the benefit of its acquisition of IP geophysical data in the area, with results confirming the potential of chargeability-resistivity datasets in mapping the distribution of sulphides and alteration in the White Rabbit district.
Fender Geophysics conducted the survey utilising a pole-dipole electrode configuration with electrodes spaced at 50m and 100m (dipoles) along 100m and 200m spaced lines.
Other targets being tested by Battery Minerals are designed to follow-up recent and historical results.
At the Cosmopolitan prospect diamond drilling will test multiple interpreted orebody geometries based on historic results, including trending pits and underground workings.
Studies of quartz veins from waste rock piles surrounding the historic workings have returned up to 24 grams per tonne gold.
Well funded operation
In April, the company pulled together funding support for its current operation with a successful placement to sophisticated investors of Morgans Corporate and Foster Stockbroking raising $1.55 million.
The funds raised were immediately allocated to the company’s gold discovery strategy which is focused on the high-quality drill ready gold targets at Stawell.