Mineral explorer Aurumin has recorded consecutive wide intercepts at its Two Mile Hill deposit from an RC and diamond drilling campaign at the company’s Central Sandstone gold project 130km west of Leinster in WA’s Goldfields.
The second hole assayed at the deposit recorded an impressive 224m intersection going 1.5 grams per tonne gold from 229.6m.
The 224m section included a 49.6m intercept recording 2 g/t from 269m, a 20.2m segment going 2.6 g/t from 325.2m in addition to a higher grade 12m hit at 3.7 g/t gold from 381.4m.
Assay results received last month from the first hole drilled at the site as part of the latest campaign recorded a broad 344m hit going 1.29 g/t gold.
Aurumin aims to use the results from its latest drill program to better define the Two Mile Hill deposit’s previously reported inferred underground mineral resource estimate of 500,000 ounces of gold at a grade of 1.1 g/t.
The company is focusing on a tonalite intrusion between 250m and 500m below surface at the deposit.
Its maiden diamond drill hole was plunged to 562m and hit tonalite 20m shallower than expected, with multiple instances of visible gold logged.
Aurumin Managing Director, Brad Valiukas said: “We continue to see the Two Mile Hill underground deposit as a key part of the project going forward, with the scale to potentially underpin future production.”
Aurumin bought the 784,000-ounce Central Sandstone gold project for $12 million in cash and shares from Middle Island Resources in December.
The total resource at the project is spread out over 11 deposits, with the largest on the surface being Shillington and the biggest overall being the underground tonalite component of Two Mile Hill.
The previous owner’s scoping study found the operation could be particularly attractive if the 500,000-tonne per annum processing plant was upgraded to 750,000 tpa and additional mill feed was secured.
Aurumin believes the underground component of its Two Mile Hill deposit has the potential to underpin a standalone operation at Sandstone with the project’s other open pits to serve as additional mill feed.
The company has previously expressed plans to combine its Sandstone mineral resource with its nearby Johnson Range project of 64,700 ounces for an amalgamated 849,000-ounce operation.
Despite expressing frustration over the current laboratory turnaround time for assays, the company expects to have the results from its final two holes drilled at Two Mile Hill this month.
With the first two holes delivering such broad hits at grades above the primary resource, Aurumin will be eager to see how the remaining two holes of the program compare.
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By Matt Birney
