ASX-listed Tyranna Resources has completed infill drilling at the mothballed Eureka gold project near Kalgoorlie and is in toll treating negotiations with nearby processing mills.
The 30 hole in-pit drilling campaign was aimed at confirming the continuity and grade of the mineralisation directly below the open pit floor to support the company’s plan to recommence open pit mining at the project.
Assays from the drilling program are pending.
Tyranna has also started discussions with nearby processing mills for the sale of ore from the potential mining operation at Eureka.
Last December, drilling at Eureka returned an outstanding 1 metre section grading 41.8g/t gold from 105m down-hole within a broader 14m @ 4.58g/t gold intersection from 103m down-hole.
Other notable results include 4m @ 3.33g/t gold from 98m, 1m @ 7.63g/t gold from 122m and a 0.4m intersection grading an ounce of gold from 170.9m.
Adding further interest, channel sampling across ores at the base of the pit returned 4m @ 20.7g/t gold and 5.6m @ 13.1g/t gold.
The drilling campaign targeted an interpreted high-grade ore shoot beneath the old pit to enable a re-estimation of its mineral resources.
Tyranna Managing Director Bruno Seneque said: “Eureka has produced gold at good grades in the past and we acquired this (project) with the knowledge that there were more ounces available. Mining was discontinued here not for lack of gold, but for the prevailing gold price at the time.”
“Gold is now trading over A$1800 per ounce and our aim is to be free digging here in the pit and toll treating at nearby facilities.”
Eureka, located 50km north of Kalgoorlie, is an old open cut that was mined on a small scale many years ago.
Historical mining at Eureka only exploited near surface ores, without a serious dip at the underground potential of the deposit. Production between 1985 and 1989 totalled 220,000 tonnes @ 4.5g/t for 32,000 ounces of gold, during which time the prevailing gold price only averaged about USD$400 per ounce
Between October 2017 and April 2018, a tribute arrangement under the previous owners of the project resulted in the mining of 53,000 tonnes @ 3.3g/t for production of 5,400 ounces of gold.
Mineralisation at Eureka is hosted in the same sequence that hosts mines to the south such as Quarters, Homestead, Golden Kilometre, Lady Bountiful and Ora Banda that have collectively produced several million ounces of gold between them.
