BMG Resources’ second round of drilling at its Bullabulling project, near the historic gold mining centre of Coolgardie in Western Australia, has nailed high-grade gold hits up to 4m at 10.12 grams per tonne in shallow drilling and confirmed stacked, lithium-rich pegmatites with a best slice of 4m at 0.56 per cent lithium oxide.
At the Poolmans Wealth gold prospect, the company’s reverse-circulation (RC) drilling sought to identify extensions of high-grade gold mineralisation intersected in its initial program and to re-orient the campaign to intercept the mapped north-west/south-east-trending lodes.
It subsequently nailed high-grade, quartz-hosted gold values in shallow extensional drilling, which it says are in keeping with results from previous drilling. The highlight 4m hit at 10.12g/t gold was from just 32m, including 2m going 18.1g/t from 34m, while a second hole offered up a deeper intercept of 1m running 10.65g/t from 58m.
A third hole yielded 12m at 2.3g/t gold from 53m, while a fourth hole had three 3m intercepts going 5.9g/t gold from 27m, 1.6g/t gold from 36m and 1.3g/t gold from 57m.
BMG Resources managing director Bruce McCracken said:“Encouraging assays from our second drilling program at Bullabulling highlight the discovery potential in this world-class Australian lithium and gold region. With a 185sq km footprint around Coolgardie, Bullabulling tenure is in a highly sought after region with a long history of gold production that is now home to some of Australia’s most significant lithium discoveries, including the Mt Marion, Buldania and Pioneer Dome deposits, as well as the Kangaroo Hills lithium project.”
At the Ubini lithium pegmatite prospect, the company says drilling confirmed the continuation of lithium-mineralised pegmatites, jagging a best hit to date of 4m at 0.56 per cent lithium oxide from 44m, which extends the strike of the pegmatite field to more than 250m, while leaving mineralisation open-ended along strike and at depth.
Previous geochemical sampling and reviews, followed by maiden first-pass drilling comprising 20 drillholes, had previously confirmed the presence of lithium-caesium-tantalum (LCT) pegmatites in multiple holes, with favourable mineral assemblages including characteristic lithium micas.
Further drilling confirms the existence of a series of stacked pegmatites, including outcropping and buried examples, all dipping to the north-east and with mineralisation open in all directions. Other lithium oxide assays include 4m at 0.1 per cent; 4m at 0.22 per cent and 4m at 0.39 per cent, with initial indications that grade improves to the south.
BMG also committed 14 regional drillholes within its tenure, but outside the two prospects, to assess the potential for lithium-bearing LCT pegmatites that may have intruded the local mafic sequence.
While several holes in the wide-ranging scout program intersected shallow pegmatites, they did not return any notable lithium or gold results. But they did yield peak values of 671ppm rubidium and 16ppm tantalum, which indicate LCT fractionation and the possibility of lithium mineralisation in the area.
Overall, the program involved 36 drillholes for a total of about 2800m. It tested gold targets at its Poolmans Wealth prospect and lithium targets at its Ubini prospect, which had been identified in its previous round of reconnaissance drilling.
The company’s 100 per cent-owned Bullabulling project straddles the Great Eastern Highway, about 25km west/south-west of Coolgardie on the Great Eastern Highway between Perth and Kalgoorlie.
The reconnaissance drilling has pulled up several targets worth following up and management says it is already planning step-out drilling at Poolmans and Ubini and additional scout drilling of other targets.
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By Doug Bright
