Classic Minerals reports new gold assays from Kat Gap extensional drilling
A highlight intercept from extensional drilling at Kat Gap was 10m at 9.26g/t gold from 57m, including 3m at 28.3g/t gold.
WA-focused exploration junior Classic Minerals (ASX: CLZ) has reported new results from extensional drilling at its Kat Gap gold project in Western Australia.
The company completed a total of 15 holes for 1552 metres during the reverse circulation campaign which returned high-grade intercepts beneath existing shallower mineralisation.
Drilling aimed to test for deeper downdip open pit mineable material, with holes situated around 200m north of the cross-cutting Proterozoic dyke.
Best results
Best drilling results were 10m at 9.26 grams per tonne gold from 57m including 3m at 28.30g/t from 57m; 6m at 12.12g/t gold from 70m including 1m at 51.10g/t from 70m; 4m at 7.45g/t gold from 73m including 1m at 22.10g/t from 74m; and 8m at 3.25g/t gold from 95m including 1m at 11.40g/t from 101m.
Also reported were results of 2m at 6.39g/t gold from 87m including 1m at 11.60g/t from 88m; 3m at 5.61g/t gold from 67m; and 1m at 15.60g/t gold from 125m.
Classic said high-grade gold extends at depth below the current shallow oxide mineralisation intersected during infill drilling, highlighting the potential for further downdip mineable ore material to be discovered.
A new program of deeper drilling is expected to add mineable ounces and result in a potentially larger and deeper final open pit design for the Kat Gap project.
Construction progress
Last month, Classic reported that construction work at Kat Gap was 25% complete.
Bulldozers began arriving on site in October after Classic had cleared all the necessary regulatory approvals and completed the stripping and stockpiling of vegetation and topsoil.
Construction is also progressing on the tailings storage facility, internal roads, waste rock dumps, the run of mine stockpile area, office and administration and workshop areas.
The company expects final testing in the current quarter will allow for first production before the end of March.
Shallow unmined deposit
Kat Gap contains a shallow unmined gold deposit located 170 kilometres south of Southern Cross.
It was discovered in the 1990s and was the subject of a scoping study in 2003 by Sons of Gwalia, which was the third largest gold producer in Australia until its collapse in 2004.
Classic has previously described the mineralisation at Kat Gap as “impressive with exceptional shallow high-grade gold in its drill holes”.
The project’s current resource sits at a contained 93,000 ounces of gold.