Gateway Mining strikes high-grade gold in Gidgee maiden drilling program
Gold explorer Gateway Mining (ASX: GML) has cheered initial results from a maiden drilling program which intersected thick zones of high-grade gold mineralisation at its Gidgee project in Western Australia.
The company today reported that the first three holes of a reverse circulation (RC) drilling program at the Whistler prospect have confirmed the presence of a consistent central zone of high-grade gold mineralisation within an interpreted broader zone.
Results included a 29m intersection grading at 3.7 grams per tonne of gold from a depth of 167m including 12m at 7.7g/t gold, and a 37m intersection grading at 3.1g/t gold from 171m, including 10m at 7.7g/t gold.
“The results confirm both the quality and accuracy of the historical drilling beneath the previously mined Whistler open pit and clearly demonstrate that, with additional drilling, there is excellent potential to delineate a high-quality large-scale gold mineralised system,” Gateway stated.
Gateway managing director Peter Langworthy said this was an “outstanding start” to the company’s first exploration program at Gidgee.
“While our exploration campaign at Gidgee is only just beginning, we couldn’t be happier with what our initial drilling has delivered,” he said.
A further 12 RC holes and 1 diamond hole were completed at Whistler and are currently in the assay laboratory.
“We are excited about the emerging opportunities at Gidgee and we are looking forward to the balance of the assay results, which will continue to be received over the coming weeks,” Langworthy said.
Additional follow-up drilling will be planned once all results have been returned and interpreted, the company stated.
Gidgee gold project
The Gidgee project covers 600sq km over the highly prospective Gum Creek Arachaean Greenstone Belt in central Western Australia.
It is situated immediately adjacent to Horizon Gold’s (ASX: HZN) Gum Creek gold project, which has a 600,000 tonne-per-annum processing plant on site and is estimated to contain a resource of 17.3 million tonnes averaging 2.25g/t gold for 1.25 million ounces of gold.
In addition to the Whistler prospect, Gateway is targeting high-grade mineralisation at the historic Montague and Caledonian open pits. The company’s future plans include the completion and reporting of results from a total of 18 RC holes drilled at these two prospects.
Gateway is also planning a regional aircore drilling program, scheduled to begin in mid to late June.
Shares in Gateway were up 16% on the news to A$0.029 by early afternoon trade.