Drilling by Javelin Minerals at its Coogee project 55km southeast of Kalgoorlie has delivered lower grade copper-gold hits over 40 metres wide and some shorter but very high-grade copper hits including two metres at 8.34 per cent copper. Another 19m intersection came in at 1.28 g/t gold and 0.15 per cent copper from 202m and included 9m at 1.75 g/t gold and 0.20 per cent copper from 202m.
4,000m of aircore drilling will commence in late March on the 3km gold trend at the Coogee West project where gold-copper feeder structures will be investigated.
The company said the new 1m sample splits from the 4th phase drilling at Coogee returned very high-grade copper from the Eastern trend and wide gold-copper intersections from the Main trend north of the old Coogee open pit.
The drilling tested strike and depth extensions on the Main, Eastern and Coogee North parallel mineralised trends immediately north of the old Coogee open pit. The company says mineralisation at all three trends at Coogee are open at depth and along strike. Mined grades at the former Coogee open pit averaged a handsome 4.7 g/t gold.
Stunning copper grades at the Eastern trend have been confirmed by the 1m sample assays with 3m at 1.08 g/t gold and 5.85 per cent copper that includes the 2m section grading 8.34 per cent copper. The copper hit extends the high-grade copper shoot on the Eastern trend by a further 40m from previous results including 6m at 0.76 g/t gold and 2.54 per cent copper. The copper mineralisation occurred as semi-massive chalcopyrite at the contact of sheared mafic and carbonate rock units.
Javelin says the Eastern trend has been defined over 250m strike. Previous intersections include 17m at 1.98 g/t gold and 1 per cent copper and 12m going 2.37 g/t gold and 0.45 per cent copper. The company says the grade and thickness of the high-grade shoot is very encouraging and it proposed further drilling.
On the Main trend drilling proved the down dip extension of broad gold-copper mineralisation below previous drilling. One metre interval samples show an intersection of 43m at 0.65 g/t gold and 45m at 0.14 per cent copper including 4m at 3.17 g/t gold and 0.43 per cent copper. According to the company this is one of the widest intersections north of the old Coogee open pit.
Javelin speculates that the wide intersections relate to a structural change in the rock units and shear zone from nearly vertical to moderately west dipping. The company says the area may be a feeder zone to a much larger copper-gold mineralised system. Deeper drilling is proposed to test the model and the significance of any mineralised feeder zone.
The Main trend also hosts high-grade gold shoots that have previously returned drill hits of 4m at 9.34 g/t gold and 5m at 5.11 g/t gold.
At the Coogee project WA Javelin has a JORC resource of 96,000 tonnes grading 3.4 g/t gold for 10,600 ounces. The project sits on a valid mining licence with no impediments.
To date Javelin has undertaken four RC drilling campaigns totalling 135 holes for 19,136m. The company says drilling has outlined mineralisation that transitions from gold to copper‐gold in the north within a broader copper‐gold system at Coogee with a current strike length of over 1km.
Diamond drilling is planned to better understand the structural controls on high-grade gold and copper shoots. RC drilling will test down dip and down plunge extensional targets.
At the Coogee West/Lake prospect Javelin has an exploration lease covering a copper-gold target centred around a magnetic anomaly in a similar manner to Coogee. Previous drilling by Ramelius yielded up to 1.38 g/t gold in aircore drilling and 1.8g/t gold and 0.17 per cent copper in diamond core. Javelin will be hoping for a repeat of the nearby Burns copper-gold discovery of Lefroy Exploration.
Aircore drilling is planned to define the shallow supergene gold blanket at the Coogee West/Lake prospect prior to testing primary mineralisation later in 2022. Further west Javelin has identified a 3km long gold trend via sparse aircore drilling. Rocks at both prospects are similar to Coogee.
Javelin’s 4,000m aircore drilling program will seek to define shallow gold at the Coogee West/Lake prospect and better understand the 3km long mineralised trend in Lake Lefroy. Drilling with a “lake ready” rig will commence in late March 2022.
Javelin’s Coogee and Coogee West projects are located immediately west of the hungry 1.2 million tonnes per annum Randalls Mill owned by Silver Lake Resources. The projects are within 15km of the recent Burns discovery by Lefroy Exploration to the southwest and 20-30km northeast of the 15-million-ounce St Ives gold mining complex.
With drilling pointing to a growing gold resource and the discovery of high-grade copper at Coogee, Javelin has plenty to aim at now in this rapidly developing mineral-rich region.
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