Horizon Minerals has encountered some fresh, solid gold hits at its Rose Hill project near Kalgoorlie as its first gold pour looms at the company’s Boorara project. Rose Hill, which is 35km west of Kalgoorlie, already boasts a 95,200oz gold resource. Best intercepts from three holes drilled in April were 3.4m at 17.92g/t gold from 78.7m, 3.7m at 9.77g/t from 84.3m and 2.5m at 3.16g/t from 144.50m.
The company said the reported intercept of 2.5m at 3.16g/t from 144.5m was contained within a broader interval of 5m grading 2.10g/t gold from 142m. A total of 398m of drilling was completed across the three holes with the deepest going down to 172m.
Horizon is also busy breaking ground at its Boorara gold deposit just 10km east of Kalgoorlie’s super pit ahead of a maiden gold pour at that project which is expected to occur around July this year. Horizon now looks set to follow that up quickly by delivering an upgraded open pit and underground geological model at Rose Hill, complete with an improved mineral resource sometime in the September quarter this year.
The company’s technical team looks to have joined the dots well at Rose Hill with as the latest infilling drilling intercepts suggesting over 200m of relatively continuous gold mineralisation from surface, down the greenstone-basalt contact, with the deposit still open at depth. The current mineral resource estimate at Rose Hill to 300m depth stands at 1.2Mt at 2.49g/t gold using a lower cut-off grade of 0.7g/t.
Horizon said it will integrate these latest assay results with other historical data that it retrieved recently to produce the updated resource. Core samples from the drilling have also provided valuable geotechnical information and metallurgical test samples to be analysed ahead of refinements to the ongoing mine optimisation and reserve studies.
According to management, further infill and extensional drilling activities are planned across Rose Hill and the adjacent Brilliant North gold project as the company builds a consolidated feasibility study, bringing together the Boorara, Rose Hill, Brilliant North, Binduli and Teal deposits.
In what is fast becoming an industry trend for savvy, small-cap gold players, Horizon Minerals will use contract mining and toll treatment to generate some early cash flows at a time of stellar gold prices, with the current mining plan fully funded ahead of a full DFS for the future, larger scale project.
Horizon Minerals’ Managing Director, Jonathan Price said: “Rose Hill continues to demonstrate significant open cut and underground potential and we look forward to completion of the updated resource models, reserve generation studies and further drilling results in coming quarters.”
“The Company’s aim is to generate additional high-grade open pit and underground reserves supplementing the large scale baseload Boorara project in Kalgoorlie to underpin a longer term production pipeline and a standalone processing plant at Boorara.”
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By Matt Birney
