Meteoric Resources to drill Novo Astro this month after firming up immediate gold targets
Meteoric Resources will begin drilling at Novo Astro later this month in parallel with its Juruena program.
With drilling now underway at Juruena, Meteoric Resources (ASX: MEI) has firmed up targets to test immediately at its recently acquired Novo Astro gold project, with drilling to begin later this month.
Novo Astro is 30km east of Meteoric’s flagship Juruena project and covers more than 15 square kilometres in tenements.
The project also hosts many historic and active “Garimpiero Workings”, which have been mined since the 1980s.
According to Meteoric, Novo Astro has never been drilled despite previous grab samples assaying up to 264 grams per tonne gold and 50.1g/t silver.
Meteoric has begun field work at Novo Astro with samples collected from in and around open pits that extend into primary mineralisation. The company has now dispatched 36 samples for analysis.
“We have only just begun our work here and already we have identified walk up drill targets to test,” Meteoric managing director Dr Andrew Tunks said.
“When we commenced our initial program at Juruena, we already had in mind the possibility of testing the Novo Astro drilling in tandem – this was a key component in our decision to order two rigs from Geosol.”
“It’s a fantastic result for the company that our initial Novo Astro work has been so positive that we can commit to drilling on both of our key Brazilian projects in our maiden drilling program,” he added.
Dr Tunks noted that there were many open pits at Novo Astro where gold was extracted from bedrock.
“Our recent field work has shown us thick zones up to 50m of intensely brecciated and veined rocks with substantial alteration zones.”
He added that abundant sulphides (dominantly pyrite) had been found in the zones.
“We know from Juruena that the gold is closely related to the presence of pyrite and we know from previously sampling and the extensive mining that these zones are clearly gold bearing,” Dr Tunks explained.
“The Novo Astro project demonstrates the potential to be a stand-alone gold field that could deliver real value to the company.”
Juruena and Novo Astro gold projects
Meteoric entered a binding agreement in March this year to acquire Juruena and Novo Astro from Crusader Resources, now Big River Gold (ASX: BRV).
Both assets cover 770sq km across Brazil’s gold-bearing Alta Floresta Belt.
Drilling at the more advanced Juruena project kicked-off last week and is targeting known high-grade deposits as well as new zones.
Previous exploration at Juruena’s high-grade Querosene deposit unearthed a 1m interval grading 1,992 grams per tonne gold.
“This is a very exciting time, indeed, for Meteoric,” Dr Tunks said.