Kalgoorlie Gold set to commence follow-up drilling at new Lighthorse gold discovery
Kalgoorlie Gold Mining (ASX: KAL) will commence a follow-up drilling campaign next month at its newly discovered Lighthorse gold project in Western Australia to assess the potential for strike extensions.
Maiden drilling in February returned thick high-grade intervals including 17 metres at 4.81 grams per tonne gold from 48m with 8m at 9.21g/t from 52m and 4m at 4.72g/t gold from 52m, with both holes ending in mineralisation.
The program outlined an extensive supergene gold blanket, expected to be associated with underlying primary gold mineralisation.
Supergene blanket
The follow-up program will comprise approximately 15 holes for 2,500m to test beneath the supergene blanket and assess the potential for a deeper, more extensive gold system.
The company is in the process of refining the final details and will mobilise a high-capacity rig capable of deep drilling into fresh rock to the site in the first week of March.
Drilling will commence on the discovery aircore line at 80m centres before stepping out on new drill lines 100m to the north and south.
KalGold will then tighten these centres to determine the orientation of gold mineralisation, with select holes pushed to 200m to test the mineralisation at depth.
No prior drilling
Lighthorse has no outcrop and no historic drilling prior to Kalgoorlie Gold’s work, leaving the subsurface geology and structure largely untested.
The company believes the mineralisation extends beyond the limit of its wide-spaced, first-pass drill programs and expects follow-up reverse circulation (RC) work to further define the extent of the gold system.
Kalgoorlie Gold is also aiming to complete a limited RC program at the nearby Wessex target, which sits less than 1 kilometre from Hawthorn Resources’ (ASX: HAW) Anglo Saxon gold mine.
Drilling will cover a total of 500m to follow up the thick, shallow intercepts from earlier first-pass aircore work.
Renewed interest
The Lighthorse discovery appears to have renewed interest in the potential of the southern end of the under-explored Laverton Tectonic Zone.
Neighbouring operator E79 Gold Mines (ASX: E79) is also fast-tracking drill testing of the area immediately across the Lighthorse tenement boundary to the west of the discovery, which could expand the footprint of subsurface gold mineralisation in the area.
KalGold said it would co-operate with E79 regarding drilling program logistics and site access.