Kalamazoo Resources posts active quarter of exploration at Western Australian and Victorian projects
Perth-based gold and base metals junior Kalamazoo Resources (ASX: KZR) has closed out an active quarter of exploration at its projects across Western Australia and Victoria.
The company recently reported “highly encouraging results” from a Phase II drilling program at the recently-acquired Ashburton gold project in WA’s Pilbara region, where it completed 97 reverse circulation holes for 9235 metres and 70 aircore holes for 5537m.
The program was designed to test targets within a 5 kilometre radius of the 1.08 million ounce Mt Olympus gold resource which demonstrate potential to host shallow, oxide and non-refractory primary gold mineralisation.
Since acquiring Ashburton in mid-2020, Kalamazoo has identified multiple targets for drill testing including the underexplored Waugh Zone (containing the Waugh deposit and five other prospects) which has been a focus of drilling due to its production history and current gold resource.
The Waugh deposit is believed to contain 68,000 ounces at 3.6 grams per tonne gold, within a total mineral resource estimate of 20.8 million tonnes at 2.5g/t gold for 1.65 million ounces.
Waugh Zone drilling
During the reporting period, high-grade gold was intercepted at the Annie Oakley prospect within the Waugh Zone, and was described as a positive indication that the prospect is governed by the same mineralised system which created the gold content at Waugh.
The observed mineralisation shares the same characteristics as Mt Olympus and is considered by Kalamazoo to be an important development for its exploration strategy targeting the northern tenements at Ashburton.
Two holes were drilled west of the Waugh pit to test for up-plunge extensions to historical high-grade mineralised trends, with a best assay of 5m at 7.37g/t gold from 93m including 2m at 13.58g/t gold from 93m.
Lithium exploration
Kalamazoo achieved significant lithium exploration progress at its DOM’s Hill and Marble Bar projects during the quarter.
Highly-encouraging pXRF (portable xray fluorescence) results from 732 soil sample pulps collected last year from DOM’s Hill as part of a gold-focused exploration program were analysed and found to indicate potential LCT (lithium-caesium-tantalum) pegmatite mineralisation.
Lithium potential was also recently identified south-east of Marble Bar and Kalamazoo has subsequently applied for a highly-prospective exploration licence which directly adjoins the project.
Kalamazoo said it was encouraged by the results as the area has a similar geological setting and target host rocks strongly analogous to that of the nearby world-class Pilgangoora and Wodgina pegmatite-hosted lithium deposits.
Marble Bar project
A technical review of Kalamazoo’s Marble Bar tenements during the quarter revealed the project to have the same lithium exploration potential as Dom’s Hill, due to its favourable proximity to the margin of the Moolyella tin-tantalum alluvial field which includes known cassiterite-bearing pegmatites.
While the known lithium occurrences are largely comprised of lithium micas, the company said the area demonstrates the “positive characteristics and empirical evidence favourable for the presence of spodumene-bearing pegmatites”.
Although Marble Bar has not been subject to modern lithium exploration, neighbouring operator Global Lithium Resources (ASX: GL1) recently announced a maiden inferred resource for its Archer deposit of 10.5 million tonnes at 1.0% lithium oxide.
Archer is approximately 25km to the north of Kalamazoo’s tenements.
Exploration in Victoria
During the quarter, Kalamazoo announced results from maiden drilling at the Fentiman’s Reef, Smith’s Reef and Charcoal Gully prospects within the South Muckelford gold project in Victoria, which confirmed the existence of several shallow epizonal gold-antimony-arsenic reef structures.
Seven out of 29 holes drilled for 4499m were restricted from reaching target depth at Fentiman’s Reef – three were due to high water inflows as the rig approached historical underground mine workings.
Kalamazoo also completed downhole geophysical logging on several of the more encouraging reverse circulation holes, and utilised an acoustic borehole televiewer to aid with structural geology interpretations.
Castlemaine and Tarnagulla
The company continued regional-scale sample soil surveys across various parts of the Castlemaine gold project however wet weather delays saw the completion date push out to end October.
At Tarnagulla, the results of a multi-element soil geochemistry program conducted last year revealed a 1.4km-long linear anomaly grading more than 100 parts per billion gold and coincident with a trend of historical high-grade hard rock mine workings.
It includes the historic Poverty Reef development which has a reported past production of 360,000 ounces at 92g/t gold.
Kalamazoo has since designed a minimum 2000m reverse circulation program to test along strike of the gold-in-soil anomaly, with drill sites located along existing tracks to minimise disturbance.
The program has been submitted for final permitting with a targeted completion date of early next year.
Financial results
At the end of the September quarter, Kalamazoo had $4 million cash at hand.
Exploration expenditure for the period was $2.3 million while corporate and other expenditure amounted to $374,000.
The total amount paid to directors of the entity and their associates was $165,000 including salaries, directors’ fees and superannuation.