Waratah Minerals’ (ASX: WTM) exploration strategy for the renowned Lachlan Fold Belt in New South Wales has gained further justification with the company obtaining additional high-grade results from the ongoing drilling program at its Spur project.
Spur is located in one of Australia’s leading precious and base metal plays, just 5 kilometres west of Newmont’s giant Cadia Valley gold and copper project and within the same region as Evolution Mining’s (ASX: EVN) Cowal gold project and Alkane Resources’ (ASX: ALK) significant Boda gold and copper field.
As part of its strategy to progress at Spur, Waratah is targeting the margins of the Cargo intrusive complex, chasing epithermal-porphyry mineralisation in similar settings to Cadia Valley, Cowal and Boda.
Increase in grades
The company’s maiden reverse circulation (RC) drilling program at the Spur project was designed to test extensions of shallow epithermal gold mineralisation and investigate a potential link with an alkalic porphyry gold-copper system down plunge.
Eighteen RC drill holes totalling 2,934m have been completed to date, with results received for eight holes having identified an open zone of shallow high-grade mineralisation.
Highlight hole 7 returned results such as 89m at 1.73 grams per tonne gold and 0.08% copper from 115m, including 57m at 2.50g/t gold and 0.11% copper from 115m, along with 16m at 5.59g/t gold and 0.32% copper from 156m and 9.0m at 9.33 g/t gold and 0.38% copper from 163m.
“The results from hole 7 are pivotal, demonstrating a dramatic increase in grades down-dip and an association with copper as predicted by our epithermal-porphyry exploration model,” said Waratah managing director Peter Duerden.
Additional holes are now being planned and permitted, with drilling activity to recommence in the near future.
Spur campaign
Waratah commenced the Spur campaign in late May with the RC drilling program designed to test beneath and along strike from encouraging historic exploration results.
Waratah reported early success with the campaign in mid-June, with results from the first two holes from the program confirming the potential for shallow high-grade gold mineralisation.
The company has also utilised ambient noise tomography surveying to define multiple additional large intrusive-porphyry target zones at Spur.
The survey was successful in extending the prospective zone for epithermal-porphyry gold-copper mineralisation at Spur to over 5km.
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