Kalgoorlie Gold Mining’s share price rocketed today to touch 8.9 cents for a weekly gain of 456 per cent after a new gold discovery at the company’s Pinjin project in Western Australia’s renowned Laverton gold region.
The new Lighthorse gold zone returned top-shelf assays of 17 metres grading 4.81 grams per tonne (g/t) from a depth of 48m and 4m at 4.72g/t from 52m.
Management says the latest intervals form a high-grade centre to results announced in December, including 8m at 2.29g/t from 60m and 4m going 1.05g/t from 52m.
Management believes extensive wide-spaced intercepts at the greenfields gold discovery suggest KalGold may have encountered a large primary gold system hidden under transported cover.
The new find has a 600m strike running parallel to the Laverton Tectonic zone and remains open to the northwest and southeast.
The deposit contains a 200m wide gold target that remains open down dip and features crosscutting mineralised structures extending for more than 800m and open to the northeast.
KalGold says Lighthorse has a larger footprint than either of its nearby Kirgella Gift or Providence deposits and has never been drilled effectively, providing management with confidence that they may have a worthwhile discovery on their hands.
A follow-up reverse circulation drilling program is now planned as a matter of priority to target the newly discovered zone. Drill rigs could be on site in March, subject to availability.
KalGold managing director Matt Painter said: “This is what we’ve been chasing at Pinjin. Our systematic approach to exploration has paid off. Thick, high-grade gold mineralisation at Lighthorse is just 1 km west of our Kirgella Gift deposit, beneath transported cover in an area of zero outcrop.”
Painter said the Lighthorse discovery and recent finds by companies on nearby ground cement the southeastern section of the Eastern Goldfields as a hot spot for exploration. KalGold holds an extensive footprint in the area.
The latest results have reshaped the company’s understanding of the mineralisation within the area which it believes extends across a broad area.
The distribution of gold observed within the new zone appears typical of a weathered gold deposit. A horizontal supergene mineralised blanket extends east-west for about 500m at depths below 30m to 40m of transported cover.
A previous air core drilling program at Kirgella West defined gold mineralisation and anomalism over a 1200m strike length and up to 320m in width. The gold results included coincident anomalies, returning assays containing arsenic, copper, zinc, potassium and rare earths, delivering pathfinder elements pointing to the new Lighthorse discovery.
WA’s renowned 30-million ounce Laverton Tectonic zone is one of the State’s most well-endowed gold regions and hosts several producing gold mines, including AngloGold Ashanti’s Sunrise Dam, Goldfields’ multi-million ounce Granny Smith operation and Ramelius Resources’ Rebecca project that contains a 1.1 million ounce gold resource.
KalGold recently revealed a resource of 2.34 million tonnes grading 1g/t gold for 76,400 ounces with mineralisation starting from a depth of 3m at the Kirgella Gift-Providence deposits.
The company also has the Bulong Taurus project, some 35 kilometres east of Kalgoorlie-Boulder. The site contains the outcropping La Mascotte gold deposit where it has defined a 2012 JORC-compliant inferred resource of 3.61mt at 1.19 g/t gold for 138,000 ounces.
This project has further upside potential with several nearby satellite prospects and historic workings KalGold can explore further.
The price of gold has been on an absolute tear of late, now sitting at US$2868 (A$4563) per ounce, which is stirring up plenty of interest among market punters and investors. KalGold’s big price move today is proof that a junior gold explorer kicking up decent drilling results will generate significant market attention.
Is your ASX-listed company doing something interesting? Contact: matt.birney@businessnews.com.au
By Craig Nolan
