Classic Minerals has received high-grade results from extensional drilling at its flagship Kat Gap gold project in the Goldfields region of WA as the company moves steadily closer to production at the site.
Assay highlights include a 6m section going a solid 12.12 grams per tonne gold from 70m including a 1m hit at an impressive 51.1 g/t gold from 70m whilst a second hole returned a 10m intercept grading 9.26 g/t gold from 57m including 3m recording 28.3 g/t gold from 70m.
The extensional drilling campaign at Kat Gap covered a total 15 holes for 1552m and was separate to a larger 109-hole infill program the company completed in November. Additional highlights from the latest assays recorded 4m going 7.45 g/t gold from 73m including 1m at 22.1 g/t gold from 74m whilst a separate hole recorded an 8m hit at 3.25 g/t gold from 95m including 1m grading 11.4 g/t gold from 101m.
The company also returned a 2m strike going 6.39 g/t gold from 87m including 1m at 11.6 g/t gold from 88m whilst two separate holes reported 3m grading 5.61 g/t gold from 67m and 1m at 15.6 g/t gold from 125m.
Classic says the latest assay results highlight the potential of the northern extension of Kat Gap which could develop at depth below the shallow oxide mineralisation at the site. Assay results from the program completed in November are expected to be available in the coming weeks.
Kat Gap is some 170km south of Southern Cross and approximately 50km south of Forrestania. It hosts almost 93,000 ounces of gold in an inferred mineral resource of 975,722 tonnes and is the highest-grade contributor to the company’s total gold inventory of 403,906 ounces. The operation houses a shallow unmined gold deposit that was first uncovered in the 1990s. The deposit caught the attention of several miners, including Sons of Gwalia, who completed a resource estimate and scoping study at the site.
Classic has been steadily building towards production at its flagship site over the past six months including receipt of its final approval from the state regulator earlier in November.
In preparation for production, the gold explorer has already received approval for an account with the Perth Mint for the facilitation of early gold sales. Last year Classic locked in a three-year, $15m equity line from LDA Capital to underscore mining at the 93,000-ounce Kat Cap gold deposit in addition to a $5m con-note to fund options for Kat Gap and its greater Forrestania project area.
Kat Gap boasts a 2.96 g/t gold grade and Classic’s Gecko processing plant is expected to recover about 96 per cent of the metal from ore.
Two nearby deposits held by the explorer are the target of expansion as the company seeks to grow its 59,700-ounce Lady Ada and 250,000-ounce Lady Magdalene deposits in the Forrestania gold belt.
If Classic can continue its run of impressive assay results from the infill drilling campaign at Kat Gap, in addition to extensional drilling, then the move towards production is likely to draw significant attention from the market.
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By Matt Birney
