Barton Gold has discovered a new 800-metre long gold zone at its South Australian Tunkillia gold project. Assay results from the first 20 holes of the first phase drilling program have confirmed a significant, new shallow gold zone located approximately 500m northwest of the 223 deposit.
Notable intersections include 10m at 3.65 grams per tonne gold from 51m, 7m at 1.59 g/t gold from 57m and 2m at 3.20 g/t gold from 63m.
The 223 deposit is knocking on the door of the million-ounce club with a current JORC mineral resource of 965,000 ounces of gold from 26.1 million tonnes grading 1.15 g/t gold along approximately 2.5 kilometres of strike. The new 223 North discovery extends the total mineralised strike at Tunkillia by around 30 per cent to 3.3km.
The 3,178m phase 1 drilling program holes are located 500-700m north of the current 223 deposit where historical drilling was less prevalent. The 223 North zone has so far only been drilled to 150m depth from surface and remains open to depth.
Additional future drilling in the area offers the opportunity to extend this mineralisation further to depth and potentially a further 200m to the south toward the 223 Deposit.
Mineralisation at the main 223 deposit also remains open to extension in all directions, with historical drilling at the centre of the deposit intersecting mineralisation 100m below the current mineral resource profile.
The newborn 223 North gold zone starts approximately 500m north of its parent 223 Deposit and trends to the northwest. A mineralisation pattern consisting of scattered shallow, broad intersections sprinkled with significant higher-grade intersections appears comparable to the main 223 deposit.
Importantly, Barton believes it is possible the two deposits are connected at depth.
Barton Gold Managing Director, Alexander Scanlon said: “I am pleased to announce a significant discovery at the Tunkillia Gold Project, where shallow intersections have confirmed our prediction for a new body of mineralisation northwest of the 223 Deposit. The 223 North prospect has been established as an ~800m long body of gold mineralisation. The 223 North mineralisation has been defined on the same ~100m spacing used for Inferred Resources in the 223 Deposit, where Barton recently defined 965koz Au JORC Resources on ~2.5km of strike. There is potential to extend 223 North a further ~1km through additional infill drilling.
He added, “These results extend Barton’s track record of a new discovery with every exploration program. We have invested heavily in pre-drilling technical work and it is rewarding to see this translate into efficient drilling, new discoveries, and rapidly expanding footprints for potential large-scale Resources. We look forward to sharing the balance of Tunkillia Phase 1 drilling assay results, including Area 191 as another potentially interesting satellite area.”
Area 191 is just 3km to the north-east of 223 and displays a detailed drill pattern indicating the potential for a quick conversion to a resource for inclusion in Barton’s growing inventory across the Gawler Craton.
The company’s Tunkillia gold project is located around 530 kilometres north-west of Adelaide and is touted to be South Australia’s largest undeveloped gold resource. Tunkillia lies in the southern portion of Barton’s extensive ground holding in the resurgent Gawler Craton, with the company’s tenure covering more than 4,735 square kilometres of the mineral-rich terrane.
The 223 deposit sits within a geological structure extending a further 7km to the north and 7km to the south, which is part of the 30km long, north-south orientated Yarlbrinda shear zone - a regional structure which hosts the bulk of the recognised gold prospects within Barton’s tenure.
Limited regional exploration for the 20 years prior to Barton’s acquisition of the project has meant many prior shallow historical drilling intercepts were not followed up. Additional geophysical analysis has also re-confirmed multiple satellite targets to be of interest and Barton says it will continue to systematically test these to establish potential new gold zones and an expanded overall footprint for the Tunkillia Gold Project.
Barton’s ongoing evaluation of its Tunkillia project is continuing to produce a wealth of near-mine targets for drill testing. The recent SA government’s grant of new mine status gives the company an added incentive to keep the drill rigs turning to expand the resource even further. The company’s recent intercepts from its final 29 holes at its Tarcoola gold project, 70km north northwest of Tunkillia, included 5m at a beautiful 48.9 g/t gold.
The latest discovery continues a string of uninterrupted success for Barton with the budding explorer having produced a new discovery with every technical exploration program during the past two years. It appears Barton has also discovered the elusive crystal ball for placing drill holes in exactly the right place. Investors will the hoping the company can continue is run well into the new year.
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By Matt Birney
