Venus extends run of WA high-grade gold hits

Venus Metals Corporation continues to pile on the runs at its Youanmi joint venture gold project in WA tabling another batch of high-grade drill strikes the company says will add to the rapidly growing gold resource at its Link prospect. Significant results from the latest round of resource drilling include a 3 metre hit grading 9.35 grams per tonne gold from 182m, 2m at 12.59 g/t gold 235m and 2m going 7.93 g/t gold from 279m.

Other notable recent gold intercepts at the Link prospect include a 2m section grading 7.81 g/t gold from 234m within a wider 7m parcel going 2.82 g/t gold from 230m downhole.

Drilling is ongoing at the Youanmi project with the aim to increase the existing 1.7 million ounce at 2.85 g/t gold resource reported in June 2021. Resource drilling is targeting extensions of known mineralisation in addition to converting the current resource from the inferred to the indicated category by tightening the drill spacing.

Recent results come from 40m-by-40m spaced drilling at the Link prospect that successfully intersected the Link mineralised envelope down-plunge at depths of 170m to 260m vertical depth. Venus says the recent drilling demonstrates that the Link prospect has good continuity of mineralisation that should readily convert to resource ounces.

Importantly, the resource estimate calculated in June 2021 at Youanmi did not include any results from 2021 drilling. An updated resource estimate is expected to be completed in the first half of the 2022 calendar year, pending timing of any outstanding drill assay results. Venus expects that the new resource estimate will both increase the resource base and improve the confidence category of existing resources.

The results from recent drilling define a zone of high-grade mineralisation more than 100m from the current resource extent. Infill drilling between the recent drilling and current resource extents is expected to add more gold ounces to the resource estimate and according to the company will bring forward the potential production date.

Mineralisation at the Link prospect is open down-plunge, to the northwest and up dig to the southeast.

A plethora of drill assays remain pending from the Youanmi near mine project including 18 RC and 14 diamond drill holes.

In addition to the ongoing drilling at the near-mine Link prospect, assays are also pending from a regional aircore drill program on the Youanmi regional joint venture tenements where Venus is a 50 per cent holder with Rox Resources holding the other 50 per cent. Aircore drilling that comprised of 424 drillholes for a massive 22,337m was completed during August and September. Drill targets included several demagnetised zones over an 18 kilometre strike continuation of the Youanmi shear zone in the corridor between the Youanmi and Penny West gold deposits. 

It seems Venus is managing to grow the resource base with every drillhole sunk into the Youanmi near-mine gold deposit. Add to that, with a plethora of assay results still outstanding, from both the near-mine and regional prospects, Venus could find itself unwrapping a bundle of precious metal treats in the run up to Xmas.

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