Horizon releases Kalpini gold resource after stellar drill hits

ASX-listed Horizon Minerals has released a new mineral resource estimate for its Kalpini project about 65 kilometres northeast of Kalgoorlie-Boulder in Western Australia. The revised resource weighs in at 1.87 million tonnes grading 2.33 grams per tonne for 139,000 ounces of the precious yellow metal. Kalpini is one of six key satellite gold deposits that underpins Horizon’s proposed flagship Boorara gold production hub about 15km east of Kalgoorlie

A total of 49 reverse circulation, or “RC” holes and three diamond holes were completed earlier this year for a total of 5,677 metres. According to the company, drilling was designed to infill areas for improved mineral resource classification and enhanced structural, geotechnical and metallurgical assessment of the ore bodies.

The new resource estimate comes in at a handy 1.87 million tonnes grading a respectable 2.33 g/t gold for 139,000 ounces of contained gold using a 0.8 g/t gold cut-off grade.

Importantly, Horizon says over 78 per cent of the ounces are now in the coveted indicated resource category with a mining reserve at the project to be booked in by the end of March next year.

Drilling at Kalpini returned a series of stellar high-grade intercepts that were used to update the mineral resource estimate including 12m at 5.57 grams per tonne from 203m containing 2m going an impressive 12.92 g/t gold and 5m at 10.21 g/t from 70m including 1m at a serious 28.83 g/t gold.

Other notable intercepts were 7m at 6.01 g/t from 91m including 1m at 22.04 g/t from 93m, 1m at 41.53 g/t from 195m, 6m at 4.45 g/t from 90m including 1m at 10.24 g/t from 92m and 1.5m at 20.74 g/t from 99.5m.

Kalpini is situated in the Kurnalpi domain of the Norseman-Wiluna greenstone belt in the Yilgarn Craton.

The region is characterised by a series of north-north-west-trending interconnected greenstone belts that have been intruded by granitoid batholiths.

Horizon says based on the assay results and observations of the drill core, the more common type of primary ore identified is strongly bleached, typified by strong silicification and often accompanied by quartz veining with sulphides abundant.

Drilling to date has identified over 1,500m of strike length of gold mineralisation along the Gambia-Camelia trend and is confined to multiple staked, narrow, high-grade flat dipping lodes hosted within the gabbro. Mineralisation reportedly remains open along strike and at depth.

Notably, the company says all drilling along the Gambia-Camelia trend has focussed on the flat dipping lodes in the central portion of the gabbro, with no drilling yet intersecting the contact with the intermediate volcanoclastic rocks. Horizon says the hanging wall and footwall contacts of the gabbro provide a compelling target for further gold exploration.

Managing Director Jon Price said:"Kalpini was acquired late 2020 for $2.75 million and it is very encouraging to see excellent drilling results enabling an improved JORC 2012 Mineral Resource estimate with significant open pit and underground growth potential. We now look forward to completing the mine optimisation and design studies for Ore Reserve generation as part of the consolidated Feasibility Study."

Stage one contract mining of the Gambia open pit at Kalpini was completed in 2019.

Third-party toll milling culminated in gold production of 38,800 ounces from the treatment of 485,000 tonnes of Gambia ore at a reconciled head grade averaging 2.62 grams per tonne gold and an average gold recovery of 95.1 per cent.

Horizon says Kalpini is one of six gold projects in the vicinity of Kalgoorlie that the company will use to compliment the baseload feed at its proposed Boorara gold project. The six satellite gold projects are being advanced as part of the consolidated feasibility study undertaken by the company to deliver a minimum five-year initial mine plan with production capacity to establish a stand-alone processing facility at the Boorara mine site just east of Kalgoorlie.

Horizon is checking all the right boxes as it completes another mineral resource estimate seeking to grow the feed for the Boorara processing facility. With a slew of bumper drilling results rolling in over recent months from Kalpini along with Peyes Farm, Crake, Kestrel and Binduli, pundits will no doubt be on alert as Horizon produces a steady stream of news as it seeks to springboard Boorara into production in 2022.

Through a series of fancy foot work, plenty of moving and shaking and lots of hard work, the Jon Price led Horizon has managed to build a herculean armoury of gold deposits around Kalgoorlie that are capable of feeding its strategy of gold production at Boorara.

That Horizon has managed to pick up so many projects and do so many deals around Kalgoorlie should come as no surprise to punters that know its board members.

Price is the original quintessential mining man. He is as much metallurgist as he is businessman and he is just as at home doing deals in the front bar of the Palace Hotel in Kalgoorlie as he is in the boardrooms of West Perth.

Company Chairman, Ashok Parekh is a bit like beach sand in so much as he gets into everything. He is often referred to as the unofficial Mayor of Kalgoorlie and his network of contacts is extreme and two tiered. On the one hand he can be seen drinking and doing deals with the region’s prospectors at The Tatts Club in Kalgoorlie most Friday nights and equally, he mixes it with some of the biggest names in mining on a regular basis.

The third major cog to the Horizon wheel is non-executive Director Peter Bilbe who, as the Chairman of the $6.8b Independence Group has impeccable blue chip credentials and a string of mining successes to his name.

Is your ASX-listed company doing something interesting? Contact: matt.birney@businessnews.com.au