Waratah Minerals expands drilling program with new targets at Spur gold-copper project

Waratah Minerals (ASX: WTM) is further stepping up its drilling at the Spur gold-copper project in New South Wales after the company identified a growing corridor comprising multiple zones.

Drilling to date has identified approximately 1 kilometre of gold strike, which remains open in multiple directions in a prime neighbourhood 5km west of the large Cadia Valley project.

Waratah is expanding its extensional reverse circulation (RC) and diamond drilling (DD) at Spur to define shallow zones of epithermal gold across the corridor and collect data to aid in defining porphyry targets.

Two target types

Managing director Peter Duerden said current drilling is targeting two high-value target types—shallow high-grade epithermal gold mineralisation and associated porphyry gold-copper mineralisation.

“Waratah’s drilling activity continues to grow the scale and grade potential of the Spur gold corridor,” he said.

“The addition of another 100 gram-metre intercept, 100 metres down dip from previous drilling, is a great result and highlights significant upside.”

“With further assays pending and ongoing extensional drilling, Waratah is committed to fully understanding the nature and scale of the Spur epithermal system.”

Significant program underway

Waratah has just recommenced work at an additional 40 drill sites with a high-capacity RC rig.

The company’s ongoing work is targeting structural control on high-grade mineralisation at the Spur zone within the Spur gold corridor, with a steep, southerly plunging geometry interpreted.

Extensional RC and DD will continue to test down dip, down plunge and along strike at the Spur zone.

Double the strike

The drilling will look to double the overall strike to 2km into the Consols and Balvenie target areas where existing results indicate significant potential.

Recently acquired high-resolution ground magnetic data has revised the broad position of the western margin of the main intrusive complex.

The data has defined a new wallrock-style porphyry target along strike from an anomalism defined in RC drilling at Dalcoath North.

It has also increased the significance of known mineralisation at the Breccia West prospect, where historical drilling returned an intercept of 108m at 0.52% copper.