Tambourah Metals reports first high-grade results from maiden drilling at Federal gold target
Tambourah chairperson Rita Brooks says the drill results at Federal confirm the company’s geological model and extend the known mineralisation past expectations.
Junior explorer Tambourah Metals (ASX: TMB) has reported the first results from maiden drilling at the historic Federal prospect within the Tambourah gold field in Western Australia.
Drilling was part of a greater campaign across the field for a total 2,527m and included the Tambourah King, Western Chief, Western Chief south and Kushmattite targets.
The Federal line consists of sporadic shallow historic workings which have never been previously drill tested.
Best high-grade intercepts were 4m at 1.8g/t gold from 48m, including 1m at 5.31g/t from 50m; 22m at 1.38g/t gold, including 3m at 7.78g/t, and 2m at 6.57g/t; 2m at 3.77g/t gold; 2m at 1.63g/t gold; and 6m at 1.03g/t gold.
Geological model
Tambourah executive chairperson Rita Brooks said drilling had confirmed and extended the project’s geological model.
“This maiden program has extended the known mineralisation past our expectations,” she said.
“These results provide us with the confidence to continue our proposed exploration programs during the remainder of this year.”
Drilling was supported by a grant under the state government’s exploration incentive scheme.
Mineralisation style
The mineralisation style at Tambourah has been reported as moderate to steeply-dipping narrow high-grade shoots surrounded by a halo of lower but anomalous grade gold.
The shoots are pyrite and quartz-rich, against pyrite-poor host rocks, surrounded by a narrow but distinct halo of carbonate and silica alteration.
Current modelling of the mineralisation shows a series of up to seven narrow north-to-south oriented “lines of lode” comprising shoots which contain the gold mineralisation.
Tambourah’s drilling to date has explored the shallow shoots with most of the reported intercepts being less than 50m vertical depth.
Drilling at Western Chief was designed to test beneath historic shallow drill results including 1m at 4.4g/t gold and 1m at 6g/t gold, while drilling at Kushmattie was in an area containing historic drill results including 10m at 10.6g/t from 35m and 8m at 13g/t from 36m.
Both prospects returned results from the lower grade halo and did not intersect the main mineralised shoots.
Historic production
Records show the historic Federal mine produced 1 ounce of gold per tonne until its closure in 1898.
Ms Brooks said Tambourah was encouraged to have hit gold-bearing mineralisation and plans to focus on extensions and width of the gold zones during the next round of drilling.
She said the company was still waiting on results from sampling of spodumene-bearing pegmatites identified in July at the Tambourah field.
“This is a case of two projects for the price of one,” she said.
“We are 50 kilometres southeast in the same geological stratigraphy as the Pilgangoora lithium mine (owned by Pilbara Minerals, ASX: PLS) which is located within 200m of the Lynas Find gold field (Kairos Minerals, ASX: KAI) where pegmatites have also been discovered, so the analogy is similar.”