Rox Resources and Venus Metals have hit the highest gold grades seen to date at the JV partners’ Youanmi South prospect near Youanmi in Western Australia, with drilling returning a peak intersection of 12 metres grading 12.7 g/t gold from 80m down-hole.
Another high-grade intersection close to surface recorded 12 metres at 8.5 g/t gold from only 44m down-hole.
The drill rods have also been turning at the Plant Zone prospect, which according to Rox, is a potential bulk mining, open-pittable ore source.
The Plant Zone deposit has an existing mineral resource of 74,000 ounces of gold, which occurs as free particles in a weathered granite host rock.
Gold occurs right from surface at the Plant Zone and metallurgical testing has indicated that the gold is free-milling, which is exciting given that it may lead to gold bars being produced without the need for the ore to run the full gauntlet of the entire processing circuit.
This prospect could see the partners end up with a fast track to cash flow too, given that the deposit is only located a literal stone’s throw from the Youanmi main pit and processing plant.
Rox Managing Director Alex Passmore said: "(The) drilling at the Plant Zone prospect, a granite stockwork style of mineralisation continues to add scale to the overall project resource.”
Rox and Venus have now completed 9,000m of RC drilling across Youanmi, with assay results received for about 75% of the program thus far.
The next step will be to produce an updated resource estimation at the project, which the companies revealed will follow on from the completion of the drilling campaign in October.
Rox and Venus appear to have well-earnt confidence in their knowledge of the geology of the Youanmi greenstone belt. Exploration targeting is often based on a little luck and an often under-appreciated amount of clever science – both appear to be coming to the fore at Youanmi.
A solid understanding of the mine geology seems to have underpinned the companies’ exploration targeting models, which will facilitate the next steps in the development and focus funds in the ground, where they are best deployed.
The Youanmi project comprises a confirmed mineral resource of 1.19 million ounces of gold and a comprehensive suite of site infrastructure including a mothballed gold processing plant.
No doubt Rox and Venus will be hoping to produce an impressive updated resource that realises the value of this golden ground in what is an underexplored but exciting part of the Murchison Goldfields region of Western Australia.
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