Draig Resources has uncovered further evidence of a high-grade parallel lode along side the historic Bellevue gold mine in the heart of the Wiluna gold-nickel belt.
The latest set of drill results have extended the length and depth of the Tribune Lode discovery which has now been confirmed over a strike length of 550 metres.
One drill hole from the latest program intercepted 7m grading 7.2 grams per tonne gold, including 2m at 17.8 g/t from 288 metres downhole.
The latest results represent the southernmost gold hits to date and confirm that mineralisation is open to the south.
Interestingly, historical drilling 800m further south along strike intersected 4.45m at 22.87 g/t gold and 1.4m at 33.1 g/t gold at the Southern Belle Lode, hosted in the same structural horizon.
In coming weeks, Draig will fast-track drilling to test the southern extension between Tribune and Southern Belle.
Other highlights from the latest round of drilling include 2.5m at an impressive 29.0 g/t gold from 147.5m downhole, 4m at 9.0 g/t gold from 57m downhole and 2.4m at 16.6 g/t from 102.4 m.
Drilling has also confirmed the continuation of significant gold mineralisation to a depth of 350 metres, with an intersection of 9m at 5.4 g/t gold, including 2m at 15.2 g/t gold from 375 metres downhole. This is the deepest drill intersection to date.
Draig reported that drilling continued to show Tribune was analogous to the quartz-vein gold at Bellevue in terms of lithology, alteration, mineralisation and width.
The Bellevue mine is a forgotten jewel of WA’s gold industry.
It produced 800,000 ounces at a remarkable average grade of 15 g/t over a long period of time until its closure in 1997.
The mine had not seen any serious exploration for 20 years until Draig set about looking for high-grade repeats of Bellevue in a corridor to the immediate west.
Draig Executive Director, Steve Parsons, said: “Our most recent step-out extensional drilling has confirmed the high-grade mineralised system is very much alive to the south, with numerous, high-grade drill intersections received form this latest round of results. We see a real opportunity to significantly grow the Bellevue Gold project into a stand-out high-grade gold project.”
A southern extension of Tribune is just one of a number of exploration targets earmarked for immediate drill testing as part of a drilling blitz with three rigs over the next few months.
Other targets to be fast tracked include further mineralisation in the western corridor, deeper targets beneath the Bellevue mine and regional targeting over 20kms of potential strike length.
The company is cashed up too following a fully underwritten institutional placement that raised $8 million earlier this month.
The high level of drilling activity ensures a steady stream of news over coming months, culminating in a new resource estimate in the third quarter of 2018.
By Matt Birney
