West Coast Silver Prepares for Expanded Phase 2 Drilling Campaign at Elizabeth Hill Project
West Coast Silver (ASX: WCE) has appointed Perth-based Wallis Drilling to carry out a Phase 2 expanded exploration campaign at the historical Elizabeth Hill project in Western Australia’s Pilbara region.
The campaign will comprise up to 4,000 metres of diamond and aircore drilling to test near-surface mineralisation, potential depth extensions, and step-out targets.
Located in a Tier 1 mining jurisdiction, Elizabeth Hill is one of Australia’s highest-grade silver projects, producing 1.2 million ounces from 16,830 tonnes of ore at 2,194 grams per tonne before mining ceased in 2000 due to declining commodity prices.
High-Grade Silver Intercepts
Phase 2 drilling follows the discovery of high-grade silver intercepts from surface during a maiden 12-hole, 1,183m diamond campaign that returned best results of 6m at 316g/t silver from 44m including 1.4m at 1007g/t from 45m, 21m at 50g/t silver from 20m, and 3.4m at 219g/t silver from 63m.
That program built on outstanding near-surface assays reported in August of 21m at 1,047g/t from 10m including 8m at 2,632g/t from 22m and featuring a spectacular interval of 1m at 15,071g/t from 27m.
Other highlights were 15m at 723g/t from 1m including 3m at 2639g/t from 1m, 17m at 858g/t silver from 5m including 2m at 6349g/t silver from 7m, and 10m at 850g/t silver from 47m.
Improved Company Confidence
West Coast Silver executive chair Bruce Garlick hoped the Phase 2 campaign would improve the company’s confidence in Elizabeth Hill, where It believes significant untapped potential remains in-ground, with the deposit open at depth and recent consolidation of the tenure offering the potential for similar discoveries.
“We are eager to return to the field within weeks to test multiple growth opportunities, including the priority prospective near mine targets aimed at advancing this project,” he said.
The company is working with ERM Consultants on a detailed analysis of Elizabeth Hill’s historic assays to assess the extent of near-surface mineralisation and further refine the drill program.
The area in question holds a significant portion of the Munni Munni fault system, as well as other fault systems West Coast considers prospective for Elizabeth Hill look-alike deposits.