In this edition of Bulls N’ Bears Big Hits, we examine some notable drill intercepts revealed on the ASX last week, including at Argent Minerals’ Kempfield Project in NSW with its 47m at 10.18g/t silver hit.
We also take a close look at other interesting drill hits from last week as reported by
Nova Minerals from its RPM resource target in Alaska and West African Resources’ M1 South underground resource in Burkina Faso.
So, let’s dive in.
Argent Minerals
Kempfield Project – NSW
Silver/Copper/Lead
Argent Minerals nailed a 47m intersection going 10.18g/t silver and 0.30 per cent copper-lead-zinc (combined) from just 1m below surface at its Kempfield NW polymetallic silver, gold, lead and zinc prospect in New South Wales.
The 47m intercept includes 12m at 27.04g/t silver and 0.32 per cent copper-lead-zinc (combined) from 21m and another 2m mineralised section grading 26.90g/t silver and 0.61 per cent copper-lead-zinc (combined) from 14m.
The 12m section also includes 4m running 57.45g/t silver and 0.41 per cent copper-lead-zinc combined from 22m and a separate 1m intercept at 45.1g/t silver and 0.22 per cent copper-lead-zinc combined from 52m.
Three surface rock-chip samples taken from the same section line as the 47m hit assayed 43.5g/t, 6.53g/t and 4.23g/t silver, further attesting to the likely prospectivity of the zone.
The impressive near-surface hit is reported from one of the first seven reverse-circulation (RC) drillholes for a total 428m of drilling recently plugged into the Kempfield NW prospect by Argent to test gossanous outcrops which surface sampling shows to be anomalous in barium, silver and the base metals copper, lead and zinc.
The company plans a further 3000m of drilling in this program to chase up gossan-hosted and other surface-sample coincident barium-silver and base metal anomalism along the Kempfield NW trend.
Gossans are typically rust-coloured oxides and hydroxides of iron and manganese which are derived by weathering oxidation. They often sit at or near-surface above mineral deposits and can offer clues about the presence and type of underlying mineral deposits.
The Kempfield NW zone drew immediate attention to itself when surface geochemical sampling highlighted its persistent, coherent, north-east trending 1.97km-long and average 100m-width gossan-hosted barium envelope delineated by its +500ppm barium contour.
Additionally, Argent has identified anomalous silver occurrences at better than 1g/t silver and occasional elevated base metal signatures within the barium envelope, the most extensive of which attains a maximum along-strike length of 720m in the southern extremity of the barium anomaly.
Only one drill hole has been put into the 720m-long silver anomaly so far – at its southern limits - but another dozen holes are slated for that anomaly in the current program.
That single hole jagged 3m at 15.03g/t silver and 0.35 per cent copper-lead-zinc (combined) from 29m and 2m going 41.05g/t silver and 0.25 per cent copper-lead-zinc (combined) from 57m.
With the exception of the single hole, the other recent results come from drilling in the southern end of a separate 490m-long central zone of gossan anomalism in the centre of the broader Kempfield NW barium envelope, which includes the headline hit.
A further prompt for the drilling arose because the Kempfield NW central gossan zone sits only 1.1km north of the company’s Kempfield “Lode 300” mineralised resource block and significantly, neither Kempfield NW nor the intervening zone between it and Lode 300 have been drilled until now.
The broader Kempfield project Lode 300 mineral resource clocks in at 11.8 million tonnes grading 24.93g/t silver, 0.01g/t gold, 0.26 per cent lead and 0.61 per cent zinc, for 9.5 million ounces of silver – or 20.8 million ounces silver equivalent (AgEq).
The total combined Kempfield project resource from its three Lodes (designated Lode 100, Lode 200 and Lode 300) in all categories amounts to 63.7 million tonnes at a grade 32.15g/t silver, 0.06g/t gold, 0.33 per cent lead and 0.66 per cent zinc for 65.8 million ounces of silver – or 142.8 million ounces of silver equivalent (AgEq).
In addition to the headline 47m hit, further encouragement is offered by a second hole about 80m to the south-west of that intercept which threw up a 28m intersection assaying 13.39g/t silver and 0.69 per cent copper-lead-zinc (combined) from surface.
Other high-grade hits in the hole include 17m at 20.01g/t and 7m at 32.24g/t silver from 8m and 11m, respectively.
Also, a third hole just 30m to the east of the 28m intercept bored its way through 30m running 6.15g/t silver and 0.25 per cent copper-lead-zinc (combined) from 3m, including 7m at 15.09g/t silver and 0.26 per cent copper-lead-zinc (combined) from 3m.
Argent’s latest drilling results from Kempfield NW points to a new mineralised zone almost 2km long sitting north-west of and parallel to Lode 300 and which for now remains open along strike in both directions, most likely laterally across strike and also at depth.
Additional mineralisation could also be repeated in the adjacent strike parallel Kempfield NE zone, about 150m east of Kempfield NW and immediately north-east of and along strike from the Kempfield Lode 300.
This likelihood is highlighted by its continuous and coherent 170m-wide barium anomaly which strikes for at least 1km and is wrapped around multiple gossans, silver anomalies and scattered small base metal responses.
In short, the 47m silver hit is the thickest mineralised response to date from the early stages of Argent’s drilling program and along with its other associated intercepts and surface geochemistry confirms the existence of high-grade, west-dipping silver/base-metal VMS-hosted mineralisation at Kempfield NW.
Argent says the discovery is far more extensive than previously believed and points to a possible initial big open-pit mining venture ahead of possible future underground exploitation.
Nova Minerals
RPM resource target - Estelle Gold project - Alaska.
Nova Minerals came up trumps with a continuous 39m hit grading 5.4g/t gold from surface at its 500 sq km flagship Estelle gold project, located in the famed Tintina Gold Belt in Alaska, about 150km north-west of Alaska’s most populous city of Anchorage.
The thick, high-grade gold intercept came from the company’s RPM North “starter open-pit” target where a program of 21 infill and extension drillholes has focused on near-surface mineralisation - less than 50m deep – in support of a pre-feasibility study for the pit.
RPM North is a high-grade deposit in the south of the project area, with a 450m strike length and 150m width defined by high-density resource drilling.
The zone remains open and includes a high-grade measured and indicated bonanza core measuring about 100m long-by-50m wide and 300m deep, although the company believes it retains good potential for further extension of gold mineralisation.
The RPM North zone is one of a trio of montane prospects designated “RPM North, RPM Valley and RPM South” which together comprise a broad zone of continuous mineralisation currently measuring about 1.0km-by-0.9km and 600m deep.
RPM South is a newly discovered zone where initial drilling and geological observations confirms a genetic link with RPM North, suggesting potential for significant resource upside.
The current RPM South resource strikes over about 400m and measures about 250m wide, while more than 600m of prospective strike links the two zones.
RPM Valley is another recently discovered mineralised zone in the valley next to RPM North and which was drilled to a limited extent in 2023.
The total current (April 2023) JORC compliant global mineral resource estimate for combined inferred, indicated and measured categories of the RPM mineralisation - which includes RPM North and the maiden RPM South resource - is 62 million tonnes at 0.6g/t gold for 1.24 million ounces of gold.
Assays for the first eight holes were reported last week, while the latest results represent a further seven holes. Results from the remaining six holes from the program are to follow shortly.
The headline 39m hit grading 5.4g/t gold includes 25m at 8.2g/t gold from surface, including 20m at 10.2g/t gold from 5m which also comprises 11m going 16.4g/t gold from 12m.
Previous drilling at RPM North produced a best intercept of 43m assaying 4.4g/t gold from 2m, including 23m at 7.3g/t gold from 2m, 13m at 10.7g/t gold from 2m and 2m running 39.2g/t gold from 13m.
Notably, every hole in the previous program ends in gold mineralisation and results from some holes, where they extend beyond the current resource model, show near-surface mineralisation continuing towards the south/south-west, with the deposit remaining open along strike.
The 21-hole program was designed with two principal goals in mind - to infill and prove-up near-surface inferred resources and to probe a possible link between RPM North and the RPM Valley mineralised zone, about 150m to the south-west.
The drilling has successfully confirmed that the RPM North deposit remains wide open to the south/south-west and that it is potentially connected to the RPM Valley zone.
Management says highly-prospective mineralised intrusive rocks have been identified in the Valley zone in recent geological mapping and confirmed by anomalous surface sample results.
The program’s success paves the way for an imminent resource update and pre-feasibility study (PFS) for a potentially-scalable RPM starter pit, with the aim of kicking off mining from a small-scale, low-capex, high-margin starter mine as soon as possible.
A positive outcome to the local RPM study will further contribute towards an updated economic study of Nova’s Estelle gold project currently in progress.
The massive Estelle gold project contains multiple resource centres across a 35km-long mineralised corridor containing more than 20 identified gold prospects, including two already-defined multi-million ounce resources across four deposits.
These include RPM North, RPM South, Korbel Main and Cathedral and contain a total combined April 2023 JORC-compliant inferred, indicated and measured 1.1 billion tonnes at a grade of 0.3g/t gold for 9.89 million ounces of gold.
Various drilling programs are planned for the four deposits to upgrade their respective sizes and confidence as parts of the overall Estelle resource estimate.
Meanwhile, results are pending from more than 500 soil and 225 rock samples collected as part of Nova’s extensive 2024 surface exploration and mapping targeting gold, antimony and other critical minerals from its multiple prospects, including at RPM.
West African Resources
Sanbrado Gold Project - Burkina Faso.
West African Resources also hit high grade gold mineralisation last week which includes a best result of 36m at 11.1g/t gold from recent resource definition diamond drilling at its M1 South (M1S) Main Deeps resource. M1 South Main Deeps is at the company’s Sanbrado gold operation in Burkina Faso about 90km east-southeast of Ouagadougou, the nation’s capital.
The drilling is unearthing some exciting, broad zones of high-grade mineralisation beneath the existing ore reserves at M1S underground.
The full headline hit of 36m at 11.1g/t gold includes 3m at a whopping 52.8g/t gold and 8.5m at 21.4g/t gold which in turn includes 4m at 45.1g/t gold & 2.5m at 54.4g/t gold.
The second-best infill diamond drillhole put through the M1S Main Deeps underground to produce 11m at 31.2g/t gold included a further 2m hit at 164.5g/t gold and 3m at 21g/t gold, including 1.5m at 40.2g/t gold and 7.5m at 7.3g/t gold.
A third top performer produced a run of 35.5m at 9.2g/t gold including 4m going as high as 18.4g/t gold.
The suite of stellar hits also includes 20.5m at 13.2g/t gold, 27.5m at 7.1g/t gold and 16m at 11.5g/t gold, among numerous other significant intercepts grading less than 10g/t gold.
This latest drilling campaign beneath the current M1S ore reserve is scheduled for completion in late 2024 and will be incorporated into West African’s updated mineral resource estimate, ore reserves and 10-year production outlook, slated for release in the first quarter of next year.
The company is on track to produce 4.2 million ounces over the next decade, with annual production set to peak in 2030 at a serious 494,000 ounces of gold. Its unhedged resources now stand at 12.8 million ounces and its ore reserves comprise an impressive 6.4 million ounces of gold.
Resource definition diamond drilling is continuing at the M1S underground with the goal of converting inferred resources to indicated resources between 1600mRL and 1350mRL (700m to 950m below surface), underneath existing ore reserves.
The total combined inferred, indicated and measured resources just for the M1S underground are estimated at 2,889,000 tonnes at 1.1g/t gold for a total gold content of 696,000 ounces.
A total of 28 holes have been bored into M1S Main Deeps for a 10,711m advance, with the company’s latest release summarising results for 15 of those holes.
The current drilling campaign is scheduled to be completed in late 2024 with results to be incorporated into the highly anticipated upcoming mineral resource and ore reserve update.
The spectacular Sanbrado M1S Main and the adjacent Northern Shoot comprise two open pits below which extensive drilling has been undertaken at the vertical M1S Main mineralisation to a depth of about 1000m below natural surface level (NSL).
At the Northern Shoot drilling has probed to a little under 700m below NSL and remains open at depth.
Extensive underground development has been undertaken at M1S to about 500m below NSL, with additional declining already slated to go to below the maximum 1000m depth of drilling where the potential ore development appears to remain open.
Apart from an access drive developed between M1S and the Northern Shoot at about 350m below NSL, the shoot itself has not seen any underground development, although declining off the access drive into a high-grade zone in the shoot looks to be imminent.
The company has a 90 per cent interest in Sanbrado, with the Government of Burkina Faso holding a free carried 10 per cent interest. WAF poured first gold at the project in March 2020, six months ahead schedule and US$20m under budget.
Sanbrado comprises several open pits, all within 1-2km of the plant site, and an underground mine accessed through a box-cut and portal immediately south-west of the M1 South open pit.
Positive results of resource estimation and scoping studies have also been reported for a potential underground development beneath the company’s M5 South open-pit.
Is your ASX-listed company doing something interesting? Contact: matt.birney@businessnews.com.au
By Doug Bright
