ASX-listed Victory Mines is off to a flying start at its Coogee gold project in Western Australia, with initial drill results from its maiden program over the prospect returning a bevy of high-grade gold hits. The first-round strikes include an eye-catching 8m at 13.53 g/t from 92m and 2m at 13.82 g/t gold from 102m down-hole which confirm a continuation of the gold mineralisation along strike from the Coogee open pit. The results bode well for the company’s ongoing exploration along the greater Coogee Shear which hosts the deposit.
The drilling at the project follows up of a plethora of historic high-grade drill intercepts below the historic Coogee open pit, and along strike, which includes 5m at 11.13 g/t gold, 3m at 21.03 g/t gold and 2m at an impressive 28.70 g/t gold.
Victory Mines Executive Director, Matthew Blake said: “We are greatly encouraged by the success of Victory’s first RC drilling programme at the Coogee Gold Project with significant high‐grade gold results being returned.”
The company’s Coogee gold project is located approximately 55km south-east of Kalgoorlie. It sits on the north-eastern shore of the iconic Lake Lefroy in WA’s fertile Eastern Goldfields. The small open pit operation at Coogee was developed by Ramelius Resources in 2013, delivering 20,400 ounces of gold into the coffers of the mid-tier miner at an enviable grade of 4.7 g/t gold.
Whilst Ramelius was quick to plunder the rich deposit at Coogee, it left more than a few interesting drill results behind, which have lain undisturbed below the existing pit and along strike from the boutique excavation. The deposit hosts a remnant resource of 96,000 tonnes at 3.4 g/t gold just below the current pit floor.
Victory completed the acquisition of the Coogee project from Ramelius in recent weeks and now holds the project 100 per cent which includes the deposit and its surrounding terrane.
The company has recently completed its maiden exploration program within the near-mine environs at Coogee. It has ploughed 3,924m of reverse circulation drilling into 35 drill holes around the open pit as it sets about rebuilding its resource inventory across the gold-bearing stratigraphy.
The gold mineralisation at Coogee is hosted by an array of south plunging quartz-carbonate veins within a north-west trending Coogee Shear Zone that extends through the company’s tenure. This high-grade ore type is found throughout the Kalgoorlie Goldfields and is typical of some of the higher-grade mines in the region, including the nearby Beta Hunt gold mine.
In reporting its first results from the drilling program, alongside the aforementioned hit 92m down, Victory also unveiled a number of notable shallow intercepts. These included a hit of 4m at 2.81 g/t gold from 45m and 4m at 2.52 g/t gold from only 40m down-hole. This first flush of success will likely provide an incentive for an expanded and systematic drilling program over the Coogee Shear in coming months.
The company certainly looks to have got off on the right foot at Coogee. And with seven drill holes still in the laboratory, there may be more good news to come from the current program as Victory ponders its next move in this high-grade gold terrane.
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