GME Resources uncovers shallow high-grade gold at Fairfield
One hole drilled by GME at the northern end of the WA deposit opens up potential for a new gold discovery.
Diversified explorer GME Resources (ASX: GME) has returned shallow, high-grade gold intercepts from a recent drilling campaign at its wholly-owned Fairfield deposit in Western Australia’s north-eastern goldfields.
The most notable result is a 10m intersection of shallow gold mineralisation grading 2.9 grams per tonne, including 4m at 5.4g/t gold from a depth of 16m and inclusive of 1m at 9.3g/t gold from 18m.
According to GME, the mineralisation remains open along strike to the north and down dip, opening up the potential for a new discovery to the north which is so far untested.
These latest results come from an infill and step-out reverse circulation (RC) drilling program that aimed to test the immediate strike potential of a shallow, predominantly oxide gold exploration target of 90,000-135,000 tonnes and grading 2-3g/t gold. The campaign comprised a total of 19 RC holes for 720m.
Drilling results
GME said drilling has confirmed the presence of two moderate to high-grade shoots and associated broader zones of low to moderate-grade supergene gold mineralisation within near-surface weathered host rock.
In addition to the northern-most hole, highlights from the campaign include: 3m at 4.8g/t gold from 36m, including 1m at 12.3g/t gold from 36m; 3m at 4.5g/t gold from 37m including 1m at 7.5g/t gold from 38m; 11m at 1.6g/t gold from 19m, including 1m at 4.1g/t gold from 26m; and 3m at 3.8g/t gold from 38m, including 1m at 8.4g/t gold from 39m.
Future work
GME is currently planning further drilling to test the strike extent of mineralisation discovered in the northern-most hole, which remains open to the north and at depth.
Resource modelling and subsequent technical and economic studies will be pushed back until further drilling has been completed.
The Fairfield deposit is located 25km north of the WA town of Laverton and lies within a mining lease hosting historical underground workings with 411 ounces of recorded gold production from the early 1910s and late 1930s.
Sporadic gold exploration including drilling has been undertaken in the area since the mid-1980s.
Along with gold, GME holds nickel and cobalt interests in WA. Its flagship NiWest project, located next to Glencore’s Murrin Murrin operations in the north-eastern goldfields, is one of the largest high-grade undeveloped nickel-cobalt deposits in Australia.