ASX-listed gold explorer, Venus Metals has racked up encouraging near-surface gold hits from a second round of RC drilling at the Range View prospect nearby the Bellchambers deposit as part of its Sandstone gold project in WA. Better assay results from the latest drilling were six metres grading an average 2.06 grams per tonne gold from 20m including 1m at 6.14 g/t from 24m, 5m going 2.76 g/t from 45m including 1m at 6.23 g/t from 47m, and 9m at 2.3 g/t from 15m.
The Perth-based company recently completed the “stage two” 11-hole RC drill program to follow up on high-grade gold mineralisation intersected beneath historical shallow drilling at Range View during its reconnaissance RC drilling late last year.
Stand-out intercepts from the round-one drilling comprising seven holes at Range View were a cracking 11m at 4.69 g/t from 12m including 5m at 9.03 g/t from 18m that in turn contained a higher-grade core of 1m at 38.92 g/t from 20m, and 8m at 1.22 g/t from 30m including 1m at 4.48 g/t from 30m.
Venus says the prospect remains open at depth and warrants further RC drilling to test the extent of the gold mineralisation there.
Range View sits just 1.5 kilometres north-east and along strike from Bellchambers, which hosts an inferred and increased mineral resource of 536,000 tonnes of ore at an average grade of 1.27 g/t gold for 21,800 ounces of contained gold.
According to the company, the stage-two drilling program has further pushed out the extent of Range View’s gold mineralisation, which it says occurs within a north-east-trending and steeply south-east-dipping sequence of faulted sediments and mafic rocks, interlayered with thin chert and banded iron formation, or “BIF”.
Venus says higher-grade mineralised zones at Range View are associated with sheared BIF layers and increased quartz veining within a 10m-25m wide zone of mineralisation.
Interpretation of the recent drilling data suggests a likely gently east-north-east plunge to high-grade shoots. The company says the high-grade mineralisation may be open down plunge and to the north-east and may represent a potential southern extension of the Range View gold lodes that were mined in the early 1900s.
Venus also plans to drill other gold targets along the “prospective” Bellchambers-Range View auriferous trend.
Bellchambers, approximately 23km south-west of the town of Sandstone, has a history of gold prospector workings dating back to the first half of the 1900s. Records indicate the old timers recovered about 3,688 ounces from 5,620 tonnes of ore that went a bonanza grade averaging 21 g/t.
Venus’ tenement covers most of the old Bellchambers mining area.
Airborne electromagnetic data modelling shows Range View as a large EM target extending along more than 2km of strike and down to more than 500m depth.
RC drilling has kicked off at the company’s joint-ventured Curara Well copper-gold project 20km east of Sandfire Resources’ DeGrussa and Monty copper-gold mines in the “highly prospective” Doolgunna volcanogenic massive sulphide, or “VMS” province in WA’s Bryah Basin region.
According to Venus’ JV partner, AIC Mines, the planned 1,000m of drilling at Curara Well is designed to test a surface geochemical anomaly that displays “striking similarities” to the DeGrussa and Monty copper-gold VMS deposits.
Venus has a 20 per cent stake in the Curara Well JV and is free carried through to a decision to mine.
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