Southern Cross Gold drills best intersection to date at Sunday Creek project
Southern Cross Gold (ASX: SXG) has drilled a new record intersection of gold and antimony mineralisation at its 100%-owned Sunday Creek project in Victoria.
Hole SDDSC082 returned 6.8 grams per tonne gold with 331.5 metres of gold-antimony mineralisation.
This has provided a 180m to 290m down dip extension of a previous drilled mineralised zone at Sunday Creek.
A record grade of 4,190 grams per tonne is included in the returns from the hole which also drilled three of the top five individual intersections from Sunday Creek of 13.1m at 91.7 grams per tonne gold from 413.6m, 68.5m at 4.8 grams per tonne gold from 506.3m and 5.0m at 60.9 grams per tonne gold from 588m.
Seven assayed intervals also returned 100 grams per tonne gold, while an impressive 20 assayed intervals hit 15 grams per tonne gold, with some reaching up to 100 grams per tonne gold. Seven intervals returned 5% antimony (up to 24.3% antimony).
Project excitement growing
Managing director Michael Hudson said the excitement at Sunday Creek continues to grow.
“Great projects generally keep getting better, and Sunday Creek is proving to be no exception. SDDSC082 is the best and most significant hole drilled at Sunday Creek and incredibly, on average, a 200m down dip extension from SDDSC077B, our previous best hole.”
“The hole intersected 18 veins, an exceptionally efficient way to drill the mineralised system, with super high- grades (up to 4,190 g/t Au) intersected in a new vein, only 400m vertically below the surface. This suggests the high-grade epizonal system is telescoping upwards to shallower levels, higher than previously understood. We are delighted by the continuity of the separate high-grade veins, with the main Rising Sun vein now traced from surface to 550m depth.”
Four rigs in operation
To help the project continue to develop, Southern Cross currently has four drill rigs operating and the company is planning to complete 19 km of drilling through to April 2024.
Amongst the drilling program targets will be follow-up work around the exciting new hole, SDDSC082.
The hole is a significant expansion of the Rising Sun mineralised footprint, hitting continuous mineralisation that can be mapped from surface to 550m depth and it also drilled the deepest mineralisation on the project to 1 km vertical depth.
The Sunday Creek epizonal-style gold project is located 60 km north of Melbourne within 19,365 hectares of granted exploration tenements.
Southern Cross is also the freehold landholder of 133.29 hectares that form the key portion in and around the main drilled area at the Sunday Creek project.
The company’s systematic drill program is strategically targeting significant vein formations, initially along 1,200 m strike of the host from Christina to Apollo prospects, of which approximately 400m has been more intensively drill tested (Rising Sun to Apollo).
Ongoing step-out drilling is aiming to uncover the potential extent of this mineralised system.
Only scratching the surface
“With the host extending 8km in length from the core area to Leviathan/Tonstal prospects we are only scratching the surface of the opportunities that await at Sunday Creek,” Mr Hudson said.
“Sunday Creek excels in comparison with globally significant high grade gold discoveries at this stage of the project’s development.”
The significant antimony returns at Sunday Creek provide added value to the project.
With antimony considered a critical metal is many countries, the global market is forecast to reach $4.6 billion by 2032, growing at a 4% CAGR between 2022-32.