Aurum Resources has submitted its samples for assay from a maiden 18-hole drill program at its Penny South gold project located on the same interpreted structure as the Ramelius Resources owned Penny West and Penny North deposits in Sandstone, Western Australia.
The company has opted for the fast-track photon process testing that cuts turnaround times from 6-12 weeks to just two.
Photon assay is also fast becoming a preferred method for many gold explorers and producers as it is a non-destructive analytical technique and has been nationally accredited as JORC compliant.
During photon analysis samples undergo high energy X-rays that analyse all the sample matrices and gives an accurate reading, especially for gold targeting. The cutting-edge CSIRO technology has been taken up by many major players, such as Goldfields and Silver Lake.
In total, 839 four-metre composite samples were submitted, with 11 one-metre interval samples included from areas deemed geologically interesting.
The maiden campaign took six and a half weeks for an aggregate 3610m of RC drilling across 18 structural targets, with a total of six holes intersecting the targeted sulphide bearing shear zone.
Except for the initial hole, the exploration displayed trace levels of sulphides, with much of that at or near contacts between lithologies and associated alteration zones.
Interestingly, Penny South has seen very little historical drilling despite a spate of solid historic gold hits, including 2m grading 33.98 grams per tonne gold, 6m going 1.27 g/t gold and 5m at 1.11 g/t gold.
As most of the historical exploration reached less than 40m down hole, Aurum considers much of the historical drilling in the area to be inefficient.
Ramelius plans to develop its Penny North deposit into a mine by running a decline from the historical Penny West pit in the near future. The company paid top dollar for the asset too, with $400 million in cash and shares trading hands with Spectrum resources in 2020 for the lucrative landholding.
Aurum has found itself in an intriguing position, along strike from a major player in Ramelius that seems to be going hell for leather to get its Penny North mine online less than 1km to the north. Aurum will be able to draw from the successful strategies of Spectrum and Ramelius in order to laser target its drilling efforts – and with those assays expected in two weeks, it could be time for Penny South to experience a bit of the limelight in the region.
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