Torian Resources completes first stage drilling at Mt Stirling, now planning new aggressive gold hunt

Torian Resources (ASX: TNR) has completed its phase one reverse circulation drilling at the Mt Stirling project in Western Australia with assay results pending — but the company has already got under way with planning what it calls an aggressive phase two drilling campaign as it sniffs the possibility of a “world class” deposit.

The first hole of phase one intercepted 274m of quartz-carbonate veining containing pyrite and ending in mineralisation. The company says assays results for that hole are “imminent”.

Mapping and prospecting work has now begun on the Diorite block with a focus on the historic Diorite King mine, which produced gold at an average grade of 73 grams per tonne, and the Diorite Queen mine.

The Diorite King mine operated between 1897 and 1922 while the Diorite Queen was recorded as operating in 1889.

The Mt Stirling Project is located 40km north-west of Leonora in Western Australia and 8km north-west of the King of the Hill gold mine owned by Red 5 (ASX: RED) which has produced more than 1 million ounces of gold.

The Leonora gold district also contains the Sons of Gwalia (4.8Moz) and the 3.8Moz Thunderbox mines.

Current unmined resources at Mt Stirling are estimated to be about 3.1Moz at an average grade of 1.5g/t gold.

Exploration activities are being accelerated

Chairman Louie Simens said that, having assembled a “fantastic” team of experienced geologists, Torian was confident the region was highly prospective for gold discoveries.

“Torian firmly believes that Mt Stirling has the potential to host a world-class discovery, hence why we are accelerating our systematic exploration activities,” he added.

Mr Simens said the Diorite King and Diorite Queen mines had never been followed up since they closed.

The phase one drilling tested targets that were identified during a re-examination of the project’s historic database. The best intersection from previous drilling returned 35m at 2.99g/t gold.

The subsequent drill hole returned 39m at 0.71g/t gold, including 4m at 2.09g/t gold.

Torian said its review of the historical database highlighted that the old intersections contained broad envelopes of halo gold mineralisation associated with higher-grade areas.

Aside from the present Mt Stirling project, Torian is also focused on its Zuleika joint venture with Dampier Gold (ASX: DAU).

Torian’s projects within the Kalgoorlie region include the Credo Well joint venture with Dampier Gold, Bonnie Vale and Gibraltar projects.