Investigator Resources expands drilling program to four silver satellite targets at Paris project
Investigator’s drill campaign will follow up previous results at the Ares, Paris East, Helen East and Argos prospects.
In a plan to increase its silver resources, Adelaide-based explorer Investigator Resources (ASX: IVR) has begun drilling at four targets near its flagship Paris project in South Australia.
The Paris project has a JORC resource of 18.8 million tonnes at 88 grams per tonne silver and 0.52% lead, for a contained 53.1 million ounces of silver and 97,600 tonnes of lead.
Drilling will take place at the Ares, Paris East, Helen East and Argos prospects, following up results reported in May, which include a 1m intersection from Ares grading at 96g/t silver and 0.13g/t gold from 66m down hole.
Investigator managing director Andrew McIlwain said that, with encouraging results from 2020 at Ares, the company is now in search of resources to complement the adjacent Paris project.
Soil sampling will accompany drilling
A soil sampling program will also be carried out across these satellite targets as well as ground adjoining Paris itself.
“In addition, we are drilling a number of holes on the perimeter of the Paris resource where last year’s drilling did not close off mineralisation.
“The objective here is to look to expand Paris’ resource beyond its current estimated 53.1Moz of contained silver,” Mr McIlwain added.
The Paris silver project is located 70km north of the rural town of Kimba on the Eyre Peninsula.
It is described as a shallow, high-grade silver deposit amenable to open pit mining.
In this new program, the company will drill 25 holes for a total of 3,200m complemented by the soil sampling.
The drilling on the periphery of Paris will total 2,700m.
All four satellite targets have been positive for silver
Twelve of the 25 satellite target holes will be drilled at Ares to test geophysical features identified through induced polarisation and gravity surveys, as well as at known zones of structural complexity.
At Argos, which is 5km along strike from the main Paris deposit, Investigator will be drilling a 3km-long structural trend.
More than 1km at Argos has previously been drilled along strike and the new holes will target northwest and southeast of the old intersections.
Helen East is 3km from Paris and has produced rock chip samples assaying at up to 170g/t silver, and the prospect has soil geochemistry similar to that at Paris.
Meanwhile, Paris East is a relatively under-explored area immediately to the east of the main project. Drilling there last year intersected silver plus lead mineralisation.