Gascoyne Resources confirms 183% jump to Never Never gold resource estimate

Gascoyne Resources (ASX: GCY) has confirmed a 183% jump in the mineral resource estimate at its Never Never gold deposit within the wholly-owned Dalgaranga project in Western Australia.

The new estimate sits at 2.03 million tonnes grading 4.64 grams per tonne gold for 303,100 ounces, comprising an open pit resource of 1.1Mt at 2.45g/t for 86,500oz and an underground resource of 0.93Mt at 7.22g/t for 216,600oz.

Of this, 1.33Mt at 3.69g/t gold for 157,300oz has been classified as indicated, while 0.71Mt at 6.43g/t gold for 145,800oz is inferred.

The estimate is underpinned by 30,223 metres of drilling from 417 reverse circulation holes completed since December 2021.

Historical drilling prior to this period was limited to three reverse circulation holes, eight aircore holes and 14 rotary air blast holes which inform the geological model but not the estimation, negating any potential legacy data quality issues.

The depth from surface to the vertical limit of the current mineral resource is approximately 345m below ground.

Additional exploration and in-fill holes completed in the three-month period to December 2022 have resulted in 52% of the updated resource converting to the higher confidence indicated classification.

Greater Dalgaranga resource

The new resource estimate at Never Never has increased the average resource grade and reportable ounces for the greater Dalgaranga project by 30%.

Updated resources for the greater Murchison region, including the Dalgaranga and Yalgoo gold projects, now stand at 20.14Mt at 1.6g/t gold for 1.008oz.

Updated resources for Gascoyne’s interests — inclusive of the Murchison and Gascoyne region resources (namely the Glenburgh and Egerton gold projects) — totals 37.71Mt at 1.3g/t gold for 1.545oz.

Landmark upgrade

Gascoyne managing director Simon Lawson said the landmark resource upgrade will fuel Never Never’s rapid growth.

“This updated estimate is a spectacular result, particularly given that less than 12 months ago there were zero ounces attributable to this piece of ground… it truly stamps this new discovery as a significant gold find,” he said.

“With a healthy gold grade of more than 2g/t in the open pit portion of the resource and an exceptional grade of more than 7g/t in our underground domain, we are very excited about the prospect of defining more of this material during this year and beyond.”

Close-spaced holes

Mr Lawson said the company had drilled close-spaced grade control holes at Never Never to a depth of 50m, with every fourth or fifth hole down to 100m depth to ensure maximum confidence near-surface.

“We targeted gaps in our initial drill patterns greater than 50m to ensure we achieved the best possible result and to convert as much material as possible to the higher-confidence indicated resource classification we drilled deeper holes to test the down-plunge continuity and veracity of the gold mineralisation,” he said.

“To date, all our drilling at Never Never has exceeded our expectations and a hit rate of greater than 90% on high-grade gold across the deposit… we now have a clear picture of what continues to emerge as a spectacular new West Australian gold discovery.”

Mining methods

The Never Never gold deposit is located on an existing mining lease and within 1km of Gascoyne’s wholly-owned 2.5Mt per annum Dalgaranga processing plant.

Open pit and underground mining methods have been assumed when calculating the resource estimate and no mining dilution or minimum mining widths were applied.

The transition point between open pit and underground is expected to be further assessed in ongoing studies.

Mr Lawson said the reported open pit material would fall under the definition of “reasonable prospects for eventual economic extraction” (RPEEE) in an open pit mining framework, with existing Dalgaranga pits currently excavated to 195m below surface.

The reported underground material would also fall within the RPEEE definition in an underground mining framework.