Aspiring gold producer Maritana Minerals has hit significant gold extensions below the floor of the planned Pit 4 at the company's Boorara gold project, just 17 kilometres east of the giant Kalgoorlie Super Pit in Western Australia.
The latest reverse circulation (RC) drilling returned a suite of impressive results, highlighted by a 23-metre intercept grading 1.8 grams per tonne (g/t) gold from 177m downhole, including a higher-grade core of 1m at 6.88g/t gold.
The hit extends mineralisation well below the new open pit design, which already sits 90m beneath the limits of previous mining, with the gold system importantly remaining open at depth. The same hole also gave up a deeper 6m at 3.68g/t gold from 203m, including a spicy one-metre slice going at 13.87 g/t gold.
However, the headline-grabber from the in-fill part of the program came from a separate hole with a one-metre intercept at an eye-watering 145.07g/t gold from just 105m depth.
Other significant in-fill results, which add confidence to the existing resource model, included 24m at 2.38g/t gold from 122m, 19m at 2.32g/t gold from 142m and a broad 25-metre hit grading 1.88g/t gold from 150m. The latter intercept contained a higher-grade 2-metre zone running at a healthy 10.91g/t gold.
The new data will inform an updated mineral resource estimate for Boorara, expected in the December quarter this year, followed by further pit optimisation studies.
The drilling at Boorara represents part of a massive 60,000m resource conversion campaign across several of Maritana’s projects. The company has now completed its 119-hole, 17,246m program at Boorara, with assays for the first 67 holes now in.
Maritana Minerals managing director and chief executive officer Grant Haywood said: "These results confirm that gold mineralisation at Boorara extends beyond the floor of the planned Pit 4. Once all assays from the program are received, they will be incorporated into an updated Mineral Resource Estimate for Boorara and assessed in pit optimisation work below the current design as we work towards a restart of mining at Boorara in mid-2027.”
Boorara is one of the main ore sources earmarked by Maritana to feed its rapidly developing Black Swan processing hub. The hub is a key component of the company's mission to become a 100,000-ounce-per-annum gold producer by refurbishing and repurposing the old Black Swan plant and trucking ore from a portfolio of nearby satellite deposits.
The company, which recently changed its name from Horizon Minerals, is well-funded to achieve that objective after completing a monster $175 million two-tranche placement earlier this year. As of the end of June, Maritana held a formidable $229 million in cash with no debt. That bulging war chest means the company is fully funded to refurbish the Black Swan plant and launch mining.
Maritana has been one of the most active drillers in the Kalgoorlie and Coolgardie districts, systematically working to upgrade its significant resource base, which recently tipped over the 2.1-million-ounce gold mark. That milestone was reached following a major 62 per cent resource upgrade announced two weeks ago for the company's fully owned Burbanks gold project near Coolgardie in Western Australia.
With its drills continuing to bore through the rocks and a steady stream of results firming up its mine plans, Maritana is heading with some pace towards fulfilling its vision of becoming the Goldfields’ next major gold producer. The latest high-grade gold results from Boorara and the possibility of deeper mining there - by open pit or underground - suggest that the deposit still has plenty more to give.
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