Venus Metals Corporation and joint venture partner Rox Resources have drilled high-grade gold some 80m outside of the existing resource base at their Youanmi gold project in the Murchison district of Western Australia with a 6.8m intercept returning a stellar 11.98 grams per tonne gold from 264m. Drilling continues as the partners seek to grow the 1.66-million-ounce resource at the project.
The new intercept comes on the back of assays from one diamond drill hole and two reverse circulation holes at the Link prospect in the northern end of the mineralised envelope defined at Youanmi.
The high-grade hit features a 2m interval going an eye-catching 37.65 g/t gold from 269m.
In addition, drilling intercepted a parallel mineralised zone above the high-grade interval with a solid 4.92m hit grading 6.51 g/t gold from 250m.
The latest assays add to recent results at Link where one hole delivered 3m at 4.42g/t from 101m and 5m at 5.96g/t gold from 138m.
Other recent hits include 4m at 3.71 g/t from 216m and 4m at 2.98 g/t gold from 162m.
The intercepted mineralisation lies near historical open pits with some results close to an old underground mine being considered by the partners for development.
Youanmi historically produced 667,000 ounces at 5.47 g/t gold from several open pits and underground mines until its closure in the 1990s.
Rox Resources’ Managing Director Alex Passmore said: “We are very pleased to announce ongoing successful results at Link prospect. The exploration model at Youanmi continues to deliver very robust results.”
Management says the new mineralised zone at Link should add to the gold inventory at the project.
Venus and Rox recently released a resource update for Youanmi delivering a 50 per cent increase in near-surface gold and a 30 per cent increase in high-grade ounces at depth. The estimate returned 3.38 million tonnes at 7.89 g/t gold for 856,000 ounces at depth, with another 14.7Mt at 1.69 g/t gold for 800,000 ounces from seven mineralised areas close to surface.
Assays from 17 holes at Link and the Junction prospect, located in the southern end of the defined mineralised envelope, remain pending.
The mineralisation being hit at Link and Junction will be incorporated into future resource estimates.
Resource drilling at both prospects continues with three diamond rigs and a reverse circulation rig smashing out the metres. Regional exploration drilling at Youanmi is also on the horizon with an air-core rig due on site soon.
Rox, which is operator and has 70 per cent of Youanmi, is funding all of Venus' ongoing exploration costs up to any decision to mine by way of a limited-recourse interest-free loan to Venus. The loan is secured against Venus’ 30 per cent stake in the JV and can only be repaid from proceeds of a sale of Youanmi JV assets.
Venus also retains a 0.7 per cent net smelter royalty on gold and other minerals produced from the JV tenements.
A feasibility study on a new mining operation at Youanmi is scheduled for next year.
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By Matt Birney
