ASX-listed WA gold company Horizon Minerals has reported a host of encouraging intersections from follow-up reverse circulation drilling at a triumvirate of prospects within its Binduli gold project area, 12km west of Kalgoorlie. The pick of the drill hits came from the “emerging” Honeyeater prospect, which returned 4m at an average grade of 11.45 grams per tonne gold from 113m including 1m at 32.4 g/t from 115m.
Another hole at Honeyeater produced 4m at 5.15 g/t from 93m including 1m at 13.54 g/t from 93m.
Perth-based Horizon punched out 47 RC holes in its new round of drilling for an aggregate coverage of 4,713m to a maximum depth of 200m at the Honeyeater, Kestrel and Coote prospects.
The two-pronged program comprised step-out and follow-up drilling at Honeyeater and Kestrel and infill drilling at Coote, immediately adjacent to Horizon’s Crake deposit, where it has recorded a series of impressive drill results in the past 12 months.
Horizon says it encountered thick zones of anomalous quartz veining within Black Flag sediments at newly discovered Kestrel.
Latest stand-out assays from Kestrel were 10m at 2.07 g/t gold from 49m including 1m at 11.09 g/t from 57m and 5m at 5.22 g/t from 94m including 1m at 18.91 g/t from 97m.
Other intersections from Kestrel included 1m at 12.12 g/t from 72m and 2m at 4.19 g/t from 34m.
Kestrel remains open to the south and at depth, according to the company.
The Binduli drilling work forms part of Horizon’s 50,000m diamond, RC and aircore drilling blitzkrieg in 2021 testing brownfield deposits and greenfield prospects across its 1,100-square-kilometre ground-holdings near Kalgoorlie.
Management says the aim of the drilling campaign is to organically grow its project pipeline within a 75km radius of the company’s flagship Boorara project about 15km east of Kalgoorlie.
Horizon proposes to build a new mining and processing operation at Boorara that it says will also be used as a gold production hub for its satellite projects.
As well as beefing up its development pipeline, the $73 million market-cap company aims to build the combined gold resource endowment of its portfolio of assets surrounding the gold capital.
Horizon recently released a revised open-pit measured, indicated and inferred resource estimate for the cornerstone Boorara deposit of 11.03 million tonnes grading an average 1.26 g/t for 448,000 ounces of contained gold.
Boorara speaks for almost 50 per cent of Horizon’s overall gold resource inventory – incorporating the resources of a half a dozen satellite deposits – of 19.1 million tonnes going at 1.66 g/t for 1.02 million ounces of contained gold.
Horizon Minerals Managing Director, Jon Price said: “The Binduli gold project area … is shaping up to be a key satellite production hub with both advanced development projects at Crake and Coote in the south and emerging organic growth assets at Honeyeater and Kestrel in the north. We now look forward to new resource estimates and further results from the planned drilling in the September quarter.”
At Binduli’s Coote prospect, 500m west of the 73,820oz Crake deposit, the most recent infill and extension drilling has now expanded the strike length to 400m and cements previous drill data for inclusion in the new resource model, the company says.
Better intercepts from Coote were 17m at 1.67 g/t from 78m including 1m at 11 g/t from 79m, 10m at 3.20 g/t from 68m and 5m at 2.28 g/t from 56m.
Horizon says further follow-up drilling at Binduli has been slated for the September quarter this year and compilation of a maiden mineral resource estimate for Coote is now underway.
Management has previously indicated it hopes to table a consolidated feasibility study on the proposed development of Boorara and the satellite projects in the second half of the calendar year.
Is your ASX-listed company doing something interesting? Contact: matt.birney@businessnews.com.au
By Matt Birney
