Drilling expands gold-silver zones for Navarre Minerals at Glenlyle

Navarre Minerals’ (ASX: NML) drilling program at the greenfields Glenlyle project in western Victoria has expanded the project’s known gold-silver zones and offered the potential for broader polymetallic mineralisation.

The company confirmed encouraging gold and silver assay results had been received from the first 17 holes and strongly anomalous grades continue to be intersected beneath a thin veneer of younger cover known as the Newer Volcanics.

So far, 1,275m has been completed of the 4,500m reconnaissance and step-out aircore program, with best results coming from three holes at the Morning Bill prospect.

Highlights included 3m at 1.6 grams per tonne gold from 80m, from within 7m at 1g/t to end of hole; 24m at 2.4g/t silver from 60m to end of hole, including 1m at 11.5g/t silver; 25m at 0.2% zinc from 59m to end of hole; and 29m at 1.2g/t silver from 49m to end of hole.

The results complement aircore intercepts announced in early 2019 of 23m at 30.3g/t silver from 76m to end of hole, including 2m at 245g/t silver, 0.5g/t gold 0.1% zinc; and 47m at 11.8g/t silver from 58m to end of hole, including 1m at 390g/t silver, 1.0g/t gold, 0.3% lead and 0.7% zinc.

Large polymetallic system

Navarre managing director Ian Holland said drilling continues to provide evidence of a large polymetallic mineral system at Glenlyle, which sits in Victoria’s emerging Stavely Arc Volcanics.

“The mineralised footprint at [Morning Bill] has now been expanded to approximately 350m by 400m and remains open to the south and at depth,” he said.

“We are encouraged by the tenor of the results from our shallow drilling, the presence of magnetic anomalies, and the project’s proximity to an existing large copper discovery.”

Mr Holland said the orientation of the mineralisation and controlling structures at Morning Bill are “poorly understood” at this point and diamond drilling would be required to investigate the geometry of the mineralised system.

Concealed target

Glenlyle is a concealed target in the Stavely Arc Volcanics where regional geophysics indicate a possible circular intrusive at depth along with the potential for porphyry, epithermal and VMS (volcanogenic massive sulphide) mineralisation.

Navarre’s aircore program is designed to test the weathered top of the Dryden-Mt Stavely basement rocks for areas of enhanced alteration, quartz-silica veining and sulphide mineralisation – all considered potential vectors towards the identification of primary precious and base metals in future deeper diamond core testing.

The program will expand and scope the shallow lateral expanses of the gold-silver mineralisation discovered at Morning Bill in 2018; and test several other similar geophysical anomalies.

Second rig

Navarre already has a second aircore rig operating at Glenlyle, with a diamond rig to be mobilised to drill under the best Morning Bill results.

The rig is expected to commence work in March, after it completes drilling at Navarre’s separate Adventure Lode prospect on the Irvine basalt dome.