ASX-listed gold explorer, TNT Mines is gearing up for a major drilling program aimed at probing a couple of walk-up drill targets at its brownfields Warriedar gold project 50 kilometres north-west of the historic high-grade Paynes Find gold mine in Western Australia’s Murchison region.
Warriedar takes in the old, high-grade Reids Ridge gold mine, where the Perth-based company plans to sink 40 holes for an aggregate drilling coverage of 5,000 metres, once it can secure a drilling rig, currently anticipated to happen next month.
TNT says the main focus of the program will be to test for high-grade extensions to the Reids Ridge gold system.
Several holes have been designed to intersect the interpreted down-dip extension of the known high-grade mineralisation at the base of the existing former Reids Ridge mine.
Very little exploration has been carried out below a depth of 150m to date, according to TNT.
Previously known as the Rose Marie mine, Reids Ridge has produced gold from underground intermittently since 1913.
Pre-1960s, about 2,800 ounces of gold were eked out of Reids Ridge at various very high recovered grades.
Old underground mine workings extend from surface to approximately 150m depth.
The company says between 2003 and 2005 the existing headframe shaft and ladder were refurbished providing drilling access and allowing the hoisting of approximately 400 tonnes of mined ore to the surface.
Historic high-grade drill intersections returned from Reids Ridge include 2m averaging 7.35 grams per tonne gold, 1.55m going 34.1 g/t, 1m at 53.5 g/t, 2m at 7.34 g/t, 2m at 7.92 g/t, 0.7m at 15.8 g/t and 0.4m at 29.6 g/t.
TNT’s drilling at Reids Ridge will incorporate step-out holes from the high-grade gold hits.
As part of the Warriedar campaign, the nearby Mt Laws prospect will be tested along strike both to the east and west of earlier drilling.
RC drilling undertaken by Norwest Minerals at Mt Laws yielded encouraging assay results including 4m at 3.48 g/t gold, 2m at 3.32 g/t and 2m at 3.09 g/t that TNT says warrant follow-up work.
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By Matt Birney
