ASX-listed junior gold explorer Kingwest Resources has teased out tantalising gold intersections from drilling beyond the current pit shell limit for one of the key deposits at its multi-deposit flagship Menzies gold project about 130km north of Kalgoorlie in Western Australia. The company’s extensional reverse circulation drilling at the Yunndaga deposit returned impressive assays of 7m grading 5 grams per tonne gold from 163m including 3m going at 10.6 g/t from 163m and 5m at 2.35 g/t from 100m including 1m at 7.55 g/t from 100m.
In March this year, Perth-based Kingwest released an inferred and indicated mineral resource statement for Yunndaga of 3.89 million tonnes at an average grade of 1.09 g/t for 136,400 ounces of contained gold, which makes it the second largest deposit in the Menzies suite.
The largest is Pericles with an indicated and inferred 3.95Mt at 1.25 g/t for 158,500 ounces of contained gold.
Together they speak for about two-thirds of the combined mineral resource estimates for the nine Menzies deposits totalling 11.05Mt grading an average 1.26 g/t for 446,200 ounces of contained gold, based on a cut-off grade of 0.5 g/t.
The latest Yunndaga drilling – comprising four RC holes for an aggregate coverage of 780m – was focused on piercing mineralisation below and along strike to the north of the current mineral resource estimate boundary and optimised pit shell from the company’s March scoping study.
According to Kingwest, the new drill intersections extend the Yunndaga system’s mineralisation at depth by 70m from the existing optimised pit shell as well as taking the strike length out by 200m to the north. Mineralised zones remain open at depth and along strike.
At nearby Lady Harriet, Kingwest’s seven RC drill holes for a total coverage of 1,236m targeted depth extensions to the deposit’s latest published resource of 490,000 tonnes at 1.5 g/t for 23,290 ounces of contained gold.
The pick of the drill hits from Lady Harriet was 1m at 10.36 g/t from 166m about 30m deeper than the current mineral resource estimate outline.
Other encouraging intercepts were 2m at 4.26 g/t from 121m including 1m at 5.81 g/t from 122m and 2m at 3.43 g/t from 122m including 1m at 5.8 g/t from 123m.
Kingwest Resources Chief Executive Officer Ed Turner said: “Extensional drilling at Menzies continues to hit high-grade mineralisation well outside of the current mineral resource estimates and optimised pit shells, showing the potential to significantly grow the economic resources and to prove up high-grade underground resources.”
Earlier this month the company reported a clutch of bonanza gold assays from the Lady Shenton deposit as part of the same recently completed 24-hole RC program totalling 4,709m.
Best of the bunch were 26m at 4.56 g/t from 158m including 2m at 49.49 g/t from 169m and 25m at 1.9 g/t from 213m including 2m at 10.09 g/t from 213m.
Other notable drill hits at Lady Shenton were 19m at 2.15 g/t from 167m including 1m at 5.34 g/t from 185m, 3m at 3.2 g/t from 148m including 1m at 7.61 g/t from 148m and 2m at 4.83 g/t from 151m including 1m at 6.62 g/t from 152m, and 1m at 12.78 g/t from 105m.
Kingwest intends carrying out further extensional drilling at Lady Shenton as it looks to test apparent high-grade shoots that it says remain open at depth within the Falconer-Granodiorite lode.
Kingwest hopes results from the RC extensional program at Menzies’ Lady Shenton, Lady Harriet and Yunndaga systems will eventually contribute to an expanded global indicated and inferred resource inventory and provide a significant boost to the economics of a possible multi-pit mining development and third-party toll treatment operation.
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