Rumble Resources to accelerate drilling at Western Queen after 76% MRE increase
Rumble Resources (ASX: RTR) is preparing to ramp up drilling at its Western Queen gold project in Western Australia after dramatically increasing its resource estimates.
The company is prioritising a significant drill program for commencement in early November following its success in achieving a 76% increase in the project’s mineral resource estimate (MRE).
Western Queen, which was initially mined successfully in the 1930s, now has an MRE of 4.42 million tonnes at 2.02 grams per tonne for 286,600 ounces.
Key drilling data
The new MRE was boosted by diamond drilling (DD) completed by the company in June 2024, which also provided further geological understanding of the controls on the mineralised system and prompted a comprehensive geological review.
This review led to a lithostructural reinterpretation that incorporated new zones of mineralisation not previously wireframed as part of the resource modelling exercise in 2021, as well as the extensions provided by the recent drill programs.
The company is now aiming to gain further information through the upcoming program, which will include up to 10,000 metres of reverse circulation drilling and 2,000m of DD.
Underexplored project
Chief executive officer Peter Harold said Rumble believes Western Queen is one of the most underexplored high-grade gold projects in WA.
“The 76% increase in contained ounces is an extremely positive development for Rumble and highlights the quality of the resources at Western Queen,” he said.
“We now have 286,600oz of gold averaging just over 2g/t on granted mining leases within trucking distance of existing operating gold plants with historical production of 215,000oz, together with significant exploration prospectivity.”
Near-term potential
Mr Harold noted that the Western Queen deposits remain open at depth, with significant near-term exploration potential.
The Princess deposit area in particular, between the Western Queen Central and South open pits, has only previously been sparsely drilled below the oxide-transitional zone 50m to 80m below the surface.
There is also believed to be significant exploration upside along strike to the north and to the south along the recently reinterpreted position of the Western Queen shear zone.
Extensive history
The oldest known historical production from Western Queen was between 1936 and 1937, when 9,991t was mined at an average grade of 17.3g/t gold for 5,550oz.
The mine subsequently produced 660,000t at 8.9 g/t gold for 188,800oz.
The high-grade ore body was also mined via open pit from October 1998 to March 2001, then until 2002 via a small underground mine developed from a decline in the pit.