Venus Metals and Rox Resources return high-grade results from drilling at Link gold target
Early drilling results from Venus and Rox’s Link prospect show a higher grade tenor of gold mineralisation than geological models indicated.
High-grade results from resource definition drilling by Venus Metals Corporation (ASX: VMC) and joint venture partner Rox Resources (ASX: RXL) have identified significant endowment at the Youanmi gold project in Western Australia.
The ongoing 23,000 metre program comprises 12,000m of reverse circulation drilling, 7,000m of diamond drilling and 4,000m of near-mine exploration drilling.
It is focused on the high-priority Link and Kathleen prospects and designed to convert inferred resources to the higher confidence indicated classification for inclusion in a pre-feasibility study.
Link drilling
Resource drilling at Link is designed to delineate adequate reserves to accommodate the first years of the production target and confirm the continuity of gold grades proximal to current resources.
Assays from Link have identified numerous gold intercepts reported to be greater than the average Youanmi underground grade of 6.89 grams per tonne.
They also confirmed a zone of high-grade mineralisation with extensive down-plunge continuity, located 200m from historical underground and open pit workings.
The mineralisation remains open down-plunge to the northwest and up-plunge to the southeast, confirming the presence of robust lodes including zones of thicker mineralisation and higher gold grades.
Early results include: 4m at 7.6g/t gold from 311m; 4m at 14.85g/t gold from 298m; 6.53m at 10.31g/t gold from 339.47m; 7.61m at 8.2g/t gold from 356.39m; and 8.25m at 8.54g/t gold from 265m.
More than 50% of the drilling program has now been completed.
Enormous upside
Rox managing director Robert Ryan said drilling shows Youanmi to be a large-scale and high-grade gold system with “enormous upside”.
“The first results from Link show a higher-grade tenor of gold mineralisation than our geological models indicated and suggest this sector of the deposit will contribute positively to the planned mineral resource review and update later this year for inclusion in the feasibility study,” he said.
“The numerous, wide intercepts of high-grade mineralisation have exceeded our expectations and, together with exciting results from exploration drilling at Midway and Youanmi South, highlight Youanmi’s potential to deliver quality ounces and extensive resource growth.”