Venus Metals and Rox Resources unearth high-grade gold extending Grace prospect at Youanmi
Results from an ongoing drilling campaign include gold grading up to 191.56 grams per tonne.
Western Australia-based duo Venus Metals Corporation (ASX: VMC) and Rox Resources (ASX: RXL) have recovered new “exceptionally high” gold grades that extend the strike length of the Grace prospect at the Youanmi gold mine joint venture to 700m.
The joint venture partners today revealed new results from an ongoing reverse circulation (RC) drilling program including an impressive 13m intersection grading at 60.49 grams per tonne gold from a depth of 177m, containing 4m at 191.56g/t gold from 181m.
This intercept is 550m along strike of, and within the same mineralised structure as, a 25m intersection grading at 34.79g/t gold reported in June.
Other highlights from the latest results include 4m at 18.53g/t gold from 88m and 3m at 22.67g/t gold from 10m.
According to Rox, the results confirm that Grace mineralisation is hosted within strongly sheared, fractured and altered granite within a broad mineralised corridor trending north-northwest. This structural corridor within the Youanmi granite, and its orientation, had not been recognised at Youanmi by previous explorers and miners.
“Mineralisation strike length continues to grow as we conduct step-out drilling with impressive grades being encountered,” Rox managing director Alex Passmore said.
“With a combination of infill RC and diamond drilling, we are well placed to deliver a strong maiden resource for Grace in due course,” he added.
The Youanmi joint venture, located 480km northeast of Perth, is operated by Rox with a 70% interest while Venus holds the remaining 30% stake.
Current exploration
The RC drilling program started in May and focuses on the Grace prospect. It is planned to comprise 126 holes for 16,000m. To date, assays have been reported on 76 holes.
In addition, the northern extent of the mineralised corridor and parallel structures now being recognised in the granite are being tested by a 12,000m air core drilling program with potential to extend mineralisation further to the northeast. Assay results are still pending.
The partners are also conducting diamond drilling to better characterise the Grace prospect mineralisation.
Assay results are pending, but logging of mineralised core intercepts from Grace indicate gold is hosted within highly altered zones of fractured granite within an overall north-northwest trending structural zone, Rox reported.