Drilling at Chinook prospect confirms continuous zinc-lead mineralisation for Zenith Minerals
Rumble and Zenith’s latest drilling results indicate multiple extensional faults underlying the currently defined mineralisation at the Chinook prospect.
New results from drilling at Zenith Minerals’ (ASX: ZNC) Chinook zinc-lead-silver-copper discovery within the Earaheedy joint venture project in Western Australia have confirmed the presence of further high-grade and continuous mineralisation.
Assays from the Kalitan high-grade feeder zone, located along the northeast margin of Chinook, returned high-grade zinc-lead results with a highlight of 13m at 6.94% zinc-lead (6.27% zinc, 0.67% lead) and 3 grams per tonne silver from 137m, including 6m at 10.51% zinc-lead and 2.37g/t silver from 141m.
The hole ended in strong mineralisation grading 4.58% zinc-lead at 216m.
Drilling was completed 300m northwest along strike of a previous hole which returned an intersection in January of 20m at 8.78% zinc-lead including 8m at 14.61% zinc-lead, within a broader zone of 51m at 4.76% zinc-lead.
Continuity of mineralisation
Zenith said numerous new zinc-lead drill results grading more than 2% have highlighted the strong continuity of mineralisation within Chinook’s large 4.1km by 1.9km footprint which remains open in all directions.
Highlights have been 17m at 4.88% zinc-lead and 3.33g/t silver from 72m including 9m at 6.22% zinc-lead (5.55% zinc, 0.67% lead) from 75m; 17m at 4.18% zinc-lead and 5.12g/t silver from 110m; 7m at 4.04% zinc-lead and 6.17g/t silver from 141m; 17m at 3.59% zinc-lead and 2.06g/t silver from 68m; and 20m at 3.63% zinc-lead and 2.82g/t silver from 63m.
Ongoing campaign
Chief executive officer Mick Clifford was pleased with results from the ongoing campaign.
“The new results have again returned thick, high-grade zinc-lead mineralisation and new extensional and infill results from Chinook demonstrate the high-grade and continuous nature of mineralisation,” he said.
“We look forward to reporting further exciting developments on the four zinc-lead discoveries made in 2021 during our exploration at Earaheedy.”
Joint venture equity
Zenith owns a 25% free carried interest in the Earaheedy joint venture while Rumble Resources (ASX: RTR) owns the remaining 75%.
The project area covers the contact between the overlying Frere Iron Formation and underlying Yelma Formation of the Earaheedy Basin, east of Wiluna.
In April, the joint venture partners announced a major zinc-lead discovery with ‘Tier 1’ potential at Chinook, which lies 12km from the project’s Magazine prospect.
The two prospects are joined by mineralisation at Tonka, Navajoh and in a feeder fault below the Chinook mineralisation.
Within the broader region, Zenith controls 100km of prospective mineralised strike which also has potential to contain multiple large tonnage zinc-lead deposits.