Meeka Metals has extended its positive run of gold hits during the final seven infill holes drilled at the St Anne’s prospect, which forms part of the company’s Murchinson gold project, after drilling through a 31m intersection grading 1.11grams per tonne gold from 31m including 4m at 4.66g/t gold.
St Anne’s, which sits about 30km north-east of Meekatharra has an estimated mineral resource of about 277,000 tonnes at an average grade of 2.8g/t gold for a contained 25,000 ounces of gold.
Additional assays from the most recent recent air-core (AC) infill drill campaign at the deposit include a 12m intercept grading 1.2g/t gold from 38m which housed a 2m section within it going 3.52g/t gold, while another hole delivered 7m reading 1.27g/t gold from 37m including 2m at 3.65g/t gold.
Further results recorded a 9m segment grading 2.48g/t gold from 59m including 5m at 3.76g/t gold with another hole returning 3m going 2.11g/t gold from 52m.
Management says the latest drilling confirms the location and continuity of mineralisation in the shallow part of St Anne’s which is considered to hold an open pit constrained mineral resource. The company also believes there is further potential for an underground deposit below the open pit which it hopes to firm up with further drilling.
The infill campaign covered a total of 17 holes with previous results from the first 10 sunk at the deposit also recording some solid results with highlights showing a 7m hit at 3.51g/t gold from 26m including 2m going 9.84g/t.
The infill drilling data will be used to support a grade control model for the St Anne’s open pits which is expected to be delivered next quarter.
The remaining development approvals for the Murchison gold project have been submitted and are expected to be finalised early this year, supporting the development-ready status of the operation.
Meeka Metals managing director Tim Davidson said: “This drilling, which continues to deliver strong results, and the submission of the development approval documentation in December 2023 positions our high-grade 1.2 million ounce Murchison Gold Project for development. We expect the remaining development approvals in early 2024 and are now updating our Mineral Resource and economic models in order to advance funding arrangements.”
Mineralisation at St Anne’s forms an 800m, north/north-east-trending gold anomalous corridor, which occurs within a broad alteration zone. The latest results follow Meeka’s infill drilling at its Turnberry target, about 5km north of St Anne’s, where results are supported by other high-grade intercepts in adjacent holes, including 1m at 13.45g/t gold.
Turnberry has an estimated mineral resource of 685,000 ounces of gold at an average grade of 2g/t. It is a shallow high-grade deposit, which has not previously been subjected to any mining activity.
Both Turnberry and St Anne’s lie within the Gnaweeda greenstone belt on the eastern margin of a shear zone related to the northern extensions of two main structural lineaments – the Evanstone-Edale and the Youanmi shear zones, which are also associated with other gold occurrences in the Sandstone greenstone belt sequence.
Meeka’s Murchison gold project covers 281 square kilometres of prospective ground and includes more than 1.2 million ounces of gold resources. The company released a feasibility study in July detailing its proposed pathway to production, which envisages gold production for a recovered 663,000 ounces of gold during an initial nine-year period.
Management believes the project now holds strong potential to extend into the underground, highlighting another possible string to its bow. This view looks to have been confirmed from deeper scout drilling where high-grade intersections below the planned pit include high-grade lode up to 62.8g/t gold from 366m.
With the current gold price sitting at about $3088 per ounce and the company returning some solid figures from its latest drill campaigns, the stars could well be aligning for Meeka as it looks to take its Murchison gold project into the development phase.
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By Michael Philipps
