Kalgoorlie Gold Mining has grabbed 38.5 square kilometres of highly-prospective new gold ground east of Kalgoorlie in Western Australia – and it sits just 1800m from shallow gold hits at its Kirgella Gift and Providence targets.
The company’s new, 100 per cent-owned permit has not been subject to in-depth historic exploration, but is on a major tectonic feature that also hosts Ramelius Resources’ 1.4-million-ounce Rebecca gold project.
Kirgella Gift and Providence are the first targets to be tested at KalGold’s Pinjin project and drillholes from three programs have thrown up some impressive assays starting at just 20m depth. The drilling results will keep geologists busy over Christmas as they interrogate the data to mature the understanding of controls on gold mineralisation.
Earlier this month, assays from reverse-circulation (RC) drilling samples at Providence came back with gold results of 4m at 1.99 grams per tonne from 24m, including 2m at 3.08g/t from 25m, 6m at 2.11g/t from 80m including 3m at 3.16g/t from 83m, 4m at 1.37g/t from 91m including a 1m section grading a solid 4.8g/t from 94m and 2m at 2.58g/t gold from 101m, which includes 1m at 4.09g/t from 102m.
More assays showed shallow gold at Providence, including a result of 2m at 1.71g/t gold from 20m with 1m at 2.67g/t from 21m. Deeper assays showed 10m at 1.12g/t gold from 143m including a 2m section grading 3.42g/t from 145m, 2m at 1.57g/t from 57m with 1m at 2.32g/t from 57m and 7m grading 1.23g/t from 129m including 1m at 5.15g/t.
The Kirgella Gift prospect also gave up some gold assays that were reported in October including 11m at 1.56g/t from 24m with 4m at 2.98g/t from 27m and 6m at 1.18g/t from 45m. Other results gave 10m at 1.16g/t from 85m including 1m at 2.9g/t from 88m and 15m at 0.98g/t from 166m with 4m at 2.14g/t from 173m.
The assays came on the back of others revealed in June for Kirgella Gift, which showed shallow gold enrichment including 12m at 1.71g/t from 11m including 4m at 2.91g/t from 16m and 7m at 1.5g/t from 26m with 2m at 3.3g/t from 26m. The company says Kirgella Gift is a multiple lode deposit that remains open in all directions.
Kalgoorlie Gold Mining managing director Matt Painter said: “The grant of E 28/3134 is part of KalGold’s plan to consolidate our strategic position in the Laverton Tectonic Zone. This new tenement provides KalGold access to a highly-prospective, almost unexplored part of the Eastern Goldfields. We have already started to identify several compelling gold targets, including just to the east of Kirgella Gift and Providence. These are located in a bend in the highly prolific, gold-mineralised Laverton Tectonic Zone.”
Painter said the new tenement appeared to contain the same strata as the Anglo Saxon gold mine to the north and the Rebecca gold project to the south. He said the company would soon begin an on-ground assessment via several station tracks to refine and rank targets for next year’s exploration campaign.
KalGold says its newly-acquired lease is on distinct regional-scale bend in the Laverton Tectonic Zone, with internal structures and demagnetised ridges, making it a prime target area for gold mineralisation – as proven by neighbouring companies.
Ramelius’ Rebecca project is about 15km to the south-west and has a total indicated and inferred resource of 33 million tonnes grading 2.8g/t for 1.4 million ounces of gold.
The Anglo Saxon gold mine, operated by Hawthorn Resources, is about 7km along strike to the north-east of Kalgoorlie Mining’s new ground and hosts a probable ore reserve of 730,000 tonnes grading 2.66g/t gold for 62,000 ounces.
KalGold says the lease, which is about around 140km east of the City of Kalgoorlie-Boulder, is covered in a thin layer of transported sand and has very little outcropping rock. The company will assess the most effective exploration strategy for the ground, which may involve drilling and soil sampling.
Management says it is advancing its Pinjin project towards a maiden mineral resource estimate that is expected to be delivered next year.
The gold price has been on a run since October, hitting about $3150 per ounce near the end of that month. The metal is trading at about $3026 per ounce today, despite dropping from the highs of $3100 per ounce at the start of this month.
Still, the consistently high recent price range means it is not such a terrible time to add fresh gold ground to your books.
Is your ASX-listed company doing something interesting? Contact: matt.birney@businessnews.com.au
By Andrew Duffy
