Mineral explorer Si6 Metals has completed its second phase of air core drilling at its wholly-owned Monument gold project in WA’s Laverton gold district. The 130-hole, 6000m program tested five prospects and was designed to follow up on successful drilling from a first phase completed late last year. All samples have been submitted to the lab, with results expected within six weeks.
The program probed bulk tonnage and high-grade structural gold targets directly adjacent to and along strike of ASX-listed Dacian Gold’s 2-million- ounce Mt Morgans gold project to the south-east.
Si6 says the drilling encountered a wide range of prospective lithologies, with some end-of-hole depths exceeding 100m. The deeper holes are indicative of deep weathering along major regional structures that the explorer says are instrumental to the development of Archean Lode gold deposits.
The drilling intersected ultramafic lithologies from the Murrin Murrin domain, highly prospective for nickel-cobalt laterite mineralisation.
Notably, the northern deposit of the Murrin Murrin nickel-cobalt mine is within 4km of Si6 Metals’ western fence line. Interestingly, research group S&P Global pegged the mighty nickel mine as the world’s 11th largest producer of nickel in 2019.
Additionally, felsic volcanics rocks prospective for volcanic-hosted massive sulphide mineralisation were uncovered.
Si6 Metals Executive Chairman, Patrick Holywell said: “This program was designed to test a number of high priority targets which we identified during the phase one program. In addition, we have tested structural targets at Triton, North Well and Celia.”
The initial round of air coring tested 26 of the project’s 60 intrusive targets, with 18 confirmed as prospective for bulk tonnage gold mineralisation. The latest drilling followed up on previously tabled gold hits including 4m at 1.38 grams per tonne gold and 4m at 0.44 g/t gold.
The explorer says analysis of geochemical data from downhole at its Kurong prospect confirms the intersected units are similar to the rocks hosting ASX-listed De Grey Mining’s renowned 7-million-ounce Hemi discovery, making it a high priority target.
Si6 Metals’ Monument project covers 310 square kilometres in Western Australia’s highly prospective and world-class Laverton gold district.
The district is said to contain about 30 million ounces of gold, pegging it as the second-highest gold endowed district behind Kalgoorlie. The company notes its neighbourhood of major gold mining companies includes Goldfields and its 8-million-ounce Granny Smith and Wallaby Mines and AngloGold Ashanti and its 9-million-ounce Sunrise Dam mine.
The company’s project captures 30km of a gold-bearing banded iron formation that it interprets to be the same unit hosting Dacian Gold’s 2-million-ounce gold project to the south-east.
Si6 Metals’ 30km strip contains its Korong and Waihi deposits, contributing to a mineral resource estimate of 154,000 ounces of gold it tabled last August.
The explorer says only about 10 per cent of the prospective unit has been drilled so far.
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By Matt Birney
