TSX-listed Novo Resources has highlighted a number of high-priority targets at its Becher gold project in the Pilbara after receiving the results from the company’s 2022 air-core drill campaign at the operation.
Becher forms part of Novo’s 10,500 square kilometre Pilbara tenement package and sits within its greater Egina gold camp and between De Grey Mining’s Mallina and Hemi gold projects.
The new targets are based on gold and multi-element anomalies that have been highlighted at the Heckmair, Whillans, Irvine, Bonatti and Lowe prospects on the north-east corner of the Becher mineralised zone.
Air-core drilling was completed last year across broad regional lines of more than 600m that defined three standout gold and associated pathfinder element targets at Irvine, Heckmair and Whillans.
Novo says analysis of the wide air-core drilling results at the project identify high-priority structural and intrusion-related targets that appear similar in geology to De Grey’s extraordinary nine million ounce Hemi gold discovery that sits only around 30km to the north-east.
The latest targets have been identified using a cutoff grade of greater than 0.1 g/t gold and include an 8m intercept at 2.15 g/t gold from 8m at the Irvine prospect, 4m running 0.99 g/t gold from 17m at Bonatti, 3m going 0.44 g/t gold from 20m at Heckmair and 4m reading 0.37 g/t gold from 20m at Whillans.
The company also unveiled anomalous base metal results adjacent to the main gold target at Heckmair where a large mafic-ultramafic intrusion is juxtaposed by several significant faults. The results include 4m at 3.4 grams per tonne silver, 0.49 per cent lead and 0.1 per cent zinc from 20m.
Novo Resources Executive Co-Chairman and Acting Chief Executive Officer, Mike Spreadborough said: “The initial similarities between the geochemistry and intrusion type to De Grey’s Mallina gold project may be extremely promising for our future exploration success in identifying a standalone gold project.”
The Becher targets are all located within an approximately 20 square kilometre area with only shallow cover of 10m to 20m. Novo expects to commence follow-up drilling of these targets in early April.
The company says the greater Egina gold camp includes an 80km strike trend along a known gold-fertile corridor between Becher and Nunyerry North.
DeGrey’s Hemi discovery has fuelled a modern-day gold rush with the likes of Greatland Gold, Kalamazoo Resources and Golden State Mining swooping in to peg their own piece of the prospective Mallina Basin. A recently completed scoping study suggests Hemi could churn out an average gold production figure of about 427,000 ounces per annum over a 10-year period.
With Hemi to the north-east and Mallina to the north-west, Novo will be looking forward to getting its drill rig back on the ground at Becher as it aims to define the potential mineralisation in the northern end of the company’s Egina gold camp.
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By Matt Birney
