Horizon Minerals has revealed a golden tempest of high-grade one-metre-plus drill hits from its latest drill program at the company’s Burbanks gold project, 9km south of Coolgardie in Western Australia’s fabled Goldfields.
The company kick-started a 30,000-metre drilling blitz in late June, which has delivered in spades with multiple standout gold grades such as a showstopping 1.55m slice grading 99.65 grams per tonne (g/t) from a depth of 336.3m, including 0.4m at 350g/t and 0.35m going 64.29g/t.
Additional eye-opening high-grade gold intervals included a 1.7m stretch at 37.18g/t from 71m, a 1m slice at an ounce to the tonne from 106m, 1.3m running at 15.01g/t from 335.3m and a solid 1m hit at 19.84g/t from 285m.
The planned phase-one drilling program for 15,000m across 45 holes is 18 holes in right now for 5223m, with assays returned for 15 holes so far. The impressive results were rounded out by thicker gold intersections of 4m going 12.75g/t from 366.1m, 7.2m at 3.92g/t from 260.3m, 5.3m at 3.49g/t from 235.7m and a 3.7m run grading 5.13g/t from 222.4m.
Horizon is continuing to build on Burbanks’ storied past of 324,000-ounces of gold at a stellar 22.7 g/t and a JORC resource of 6.1 million tonnes at 2.4 g/t for 466,000 golden ounces.
The company’s phase-one campaign for 15,000m is seeking to improve confidence in the continuity of the defined resource.
Phase-two drilling, also for an expected 15,000m, will comprise extensional drilling, targeting along strike and down-dip of known high-grade lodes, with a planned start early next year.
Horizon Minerals managing director and chief executive officer Grant Haywood said: “These spectacular high-grade intersections from our infill diamond drilling program further demonstrate the exceptional quality of the orebody and underscores the potential of our Burbanks project.”
Haywood says the strong results provide real assurance in the project and demonstrates the opportunity to deliver improved confidence in the resource which will feed directly into development studies and provide high-grade feed for its Black Swan processing plant.
The phase-one program is targeting either side of the Main Lode, towards its Birthday Gift and Burbanks North lodes, to build resource confidence and move resources from the inferred category into the higher-value indicated category.
It may then enable conversion of resources to ore reserves and the development of a mining plan, essential to advance its project status.
The infill drilling has confirmed the position and grade of the existing lodes and extended the known high-grade trends to the west and infilled along the resources’ margins. It has also confirmed continuity of mineralisation to the north and in between Burbanks North and the Main Lode ground.
Notably, one hole successfully intersected the down-dip extension of the high-grade gold beneath the Main Lode, extending the trend a further 70m beneath historical workings, to a depth of 300m.
The company believes the result considerably increases confidence in its current geological model. With the closest drillholes located 100m to the north and south, further drilling is planned to unearth the full potential of the area.
Management says a second diamond rig landed last week at Burbanks to accelerate the phase-one program, scheduled for completion in December. It expects all assay results by the end of March, with an updated mineral resource unveiled before the end of the June quarter. Ore reserve studies are expected to follow the upgrade in mineral resource categories.
It recently moved a step closer to becoming a standalone mid-tier gold producer, with combined pre-feasibility studies (PFS) across mining, infrastructure and its Black Swan processing plant project near Kalgoorlie moving at a rapid clip.
Horizon is currently holding two producing mines – Phillips Find and Boorara – with separate mining and tolling agreements in place.
The company’s grand plan is to feed high-grade ore from Burbanks into its souped-up Black Swan plant that once mined nickel.
As the rigs churn and assays loom, the Burbanks project stands ready to redefine Horizon’s trajectory among its gold mining peers. With cash spinning in the door from its Boorara and Phillips Find deposits also, the company is redefining its pathway in the wake of record gold prices.
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By Craig Nolan
