Nova Minerals identifies new gold zones at Train and Shoeshine prospects within Estelle project
Nova Minerals chief executive officer Christopher Gerteisen said some of the assays to follow are based on the best rocks encountered at the project.
High-grade rock samples from the Train and Shoeshine prospects within Nova Minerals’ (ASX: NVA) Estelle gold project have identified further broad surface gold zones outside of the 4.7 million ounce inferred resource at the Korbel deposit.
Exploration mapping also confirmed a large intrusive related gold system (IRGS) exposed at surface with a 1 kilometre strike and 500m wide at Train and 1km long at Shoeshine.
A similar style of mineralisation observed at the nearby Shadow and Discovery prospects was interpreted to be part of the same mineralised system.
Rock sampling at Train and Shoeshine returned numerous results over 20 grams per tonne gold and included 30.4g/t, 24.5g/t, 21.6g/t, 7.5g/t, 5.7g/t and 5.4g/t.
Mineralised veins
All grades were associated with northwest striking, northeast dipping, quartz-arsenopyrite mineralised veins.
Two prominent veins (each around 30cm thick) were found approximately 4m from each other and contained massive arsenopyrite with quartz.
A third vein of the same thickness was found 130m south and also contained massive arsenopyrite.
From north to south, samples of these three veins ran gold grades of 2.8g/t, 24.5g/t and 1.4g/t, respectively.
Growing the resource
Chief executive officer Christopher Gerteisen said the results would help grow the global resource inventory at Estelle.
“This growth would be in addition to the resource already delineated at Korbel, the high-grade drill results from the RPM deposit, and the recent exciting discovery of an extensive outcropping polymetallic gold-silver-copper mineralised vein system at Stoney,” he said.
“We will continue to systematically advance these types of focused reconnaissance exploration programs [and] we believe this will potentially lead to the definition of multiple new shallow gold, silver and copper resources to further support our goal of steadily growing the global resource inventory.”
Gold-rich prospect
The gold-rich Train prospect is located in the central portion of the claim block along the flanks of Mount Estelle where the gold mineralisation is hosted in a granodiorite phase of the Estelle Pluton.
Nova sampled Train during this year’s reconnaissance program and discovered anomalous gold in outcrop rock samples and talus fines samples throughout a 6km traverse extending into the Shoeshine prospect.