Brightstar Resources has received a flurry of significant gold assay results back from recent drilling to the north along strike of a historical open pit mine at its Cork Tree Well prospect near Laverton in WA. Significant assay results returned from shallow RC drilling include a 16 metre hit grading 3.26 grams per tonne gold from 112m downhole and 12m going 4.25g/t gold from 131m downhole.
Other significant assay results recently received include 7m grading 3.03g/t gold from 58m, 6m grading 2.6g/t gold from 68m and 7m at 2.28g/t from 69m downhole.
Drilling at Cork Tree Well is the first exploration program conducted in the area since 2012, with a lot of unexplored ground still sitting in Brightstar’s portfolio. Results have been received for 47 holes out of the 89-hole program completed.
Drilling at Cork Tree Well was designed to infill and extend the current JORC resource of 237,000 ounces gold grading 1.9g/t gold.
Brightstar says the results received so far give it confidence that the resource is robust and that the Cork Tree Well deposit will be converted to a higher confidence JORC resource category once all results have returned.
Significant results that yielded more than 1g/t gold were returned in 36 of the 47 drill holes assayed to date. According to Brightstar the results conform closely with its geological model and show continuity down dip and along strike.
Once all assay results have been returned at Cork Tree Well a new resource model will be completed. Following the resource update further drilling is expected in the new year to grow the existing resource and target areas of interest identified from updated geological model interpretation.
Interestingly and perhaps unexpectedly, several high-grade nickel assay results were returned within the deposit from the first batch of results released. The nickel assays were only taken every 20m as part of a multi-element analysis with the potential for nickel mineralisation to extend between the assayed horizons. Unsampled intervals between the high-grade nickel hits have been sent to the lab for assay and are awaiting results to interrogate the nickel prospectivity in the area.
With wide, high-grade gold results steadily flowing in from the lab, Brightstar’s Cork Tree Well gold deposit continues to grow. The unexpected nickel mineralisation provides some instant potential upside for Brightstar as it sets about fully exploiting its increasingly lucrative looking ground.
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By Matt Birney
