Barton Gold’s geological modelling and targeting is continuing to pay dividends at Tarcoola, with recent drilling outlining a new ore shoot along strike from the Perseverance open pit. The new gold discovery is one of a bevy of exploration targets being tested by the company at its developing South Australian project with intercepts including 7m at 7.5 g/t gold, including a 2 metre intersection at an eye-catching 22.8 g/t gold from 95m down-hole.
These latest results signal the completion of Barton’s phase one drilling campaign at Tarcoola, with the drill bit having chewed up 5,328m across the project. The near-mine exploration program has produced a string of successes including a new zone of gold mineralisation at Perseverance West.
The discovery extends over 200m of strike from the south-west corner of the Perseverance pit and appears to be hosted by similar structural and stratigraphic controls to those of the previously mined gold mineralisation. The new ore shoot has returned a swag of solid drill intercepts including the aforementioned result, in addition to 4m at 6.85 g/t gold from only 28m depth and previous results of 5m at 6.06 g/t gold including 2m at 13.45 g/t gold from 48m down-hole.
Barton Gold’s Managing Director, Alexander Scanlon said:
“The early identification of a new shallow gold zone in the immediate vicinity of the Perseverance Open Pit mine is an exciting validation of the team’s work to-date. Early analysis suggests the potential for these structures to intercept the Peela Conglomerate at depth in a similar fashion to some of the most interesting zones of the current open pit.”
“These results provide several shallow priority targets for Phase 2 follow up drilling, and the potential orientation of the structures in this new zone may offer additional efficiencies in targeting multiple structures for extension with each drill hole. “
Barton’s 100 per cent owned Tarcoola gold project is located 600km northwest of Adelaide and consists of 1,200 square kilometres of fertile gold tenure in the revered Gawler Craton. The project is easily accessed via Barton’s mothballed Challenger gold mill located 120km to the northwest of Tarcoola.
Recent geological modelling of the Tarcoola ore system, utilising an innovative mix of geophysical techniques, has revealed that the structures hosting the gold mineralisation at the resurgent mining centre are far more extensive than previously recognised – in addition, they have yet to be systematically tested presenting an enticing opportunity for the company.
Analysis of the regional magnetics has identified a 4km long extension to the target stratigraphy, east of the Perseverance open pit, whilst seismic profiling has extended this same mineralised corridor by an astounding 10km to the west. The 14km long Tarcoola gold trend is further highlighted by a plethora of artisanal gold workings that are peppered across the historic goldfield.
Barton’s recently completed drilling across the Perseverance mine opens the door on the second phase of drilling, with the company hinting at broader program to explore the extensions to its phase one targets, including Perseverance West, and a plethora of targets along strike from the open pit.
Armed with a book of solid intercepts and an evolving list of drill targets, Barton looks spoilt for choice as it kicks its development program up a notch in the coming months before launching into the next phase of drilling in South Australia.
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