Reach Resources has kick-started a highly anticipated reverse circulation (RC) drilling program at its Murchison South gold project marking the first time its new geological model will be tested at the site near Paynes Find in Western Australia.
The program, which consists of 12 RC drill holes plunging to depths of 60–80 meters, is focused on reevaluating previous structural controls and targeting high-grade zones identified to be connected to the newly interpreted Primose fault structure.
The project, formerly known as the Primrose gold project, recently underwent in-house and independent reviews of its gold mineralisation controls. The review exposed gaps in the resource block model and opened-up the project’s Blue Heaven prospect for additional, potentially close-to-surface resource expansion.
Historic drilling at the project features some seriously high-grade, albeit narrow vein gold intercepts. One such RC drillhole intercepted 3m at a whopping grade of 92.1 grams per tonne (g/t) gold which notably remains open at depth.
Reach says the current program aims to refine the company’s understanding of the resource at Murchison South, particularly along high-grade zones which could have been easily missed without the new geological model. By targeting these specific areas Reach is looking to further delineate a viable open-pit mining scenario and mapping the quickest path to market for what may lie beneath.
The company says current drill targeting has been informed by recent work conducted by Mining Plus, appointed to validated historical data, prioritise exploration targets and infill resource drilling at the project.
The 12-hole drilling program is expected to deliver initial results in the coming months with Reach committing to updating shareholders as new developments arise.
While Reach has predominantly been focussed on its critical minerals’ portfolio—spanning lithium, rare earths, niobium, and manganese—the company’s inferred gold resource at Paynes Find has taken on a newly elevated status amongst the company’s priorities due to the soaring gold price.
Murchison South boasts an inferred mineral resource of 1.035 million tonnes at 3.2 g/t gold for 105,000 ounces, with a higher-grade component of 582,000 tonnes at 4.7g/t for 87,000oz.
The company believes the resource currently remains open in all directions.
Reach maintains the project’s proximity to several gold mills within trucking distance presents an immediate pathway for processing and monetising what was previously considered an unfeasible gold resource.
Prior interpretations of the Blue Heaven prospect assumed gold mineralisation was mainly sub-vertical, discontinuous and spotty which can limit tonnage for mining.
The company says this was largely a result of an inappropriately-high gold cut-off of 1g/t gold grade being applied in the previous block model, possibly based solely on a prevailing gold price of the day.
The revised interpretation from the kriged model takes a broader approach by incorporating all assay results, rather than only those above 1g/t gold.
With gold trading at all-time highs, recently surging past $4,200 per ounce, the company’s renewed focus on the pricey yellow metal and it’s not insignificant resource at Murchison couldn’t be timed better.
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By Andrew Todd
