Small cap gold explorer Terrain Minerals will conduct a surface trenching program across the highly prospective 382-shear prospect within its Great Western project tenements near Leonora, WA, where it unearthed a rock chip going 4.67 grams per tonne gold in March.
Four trenches will be excavated at a right angle to the interpreted high-grade gold mineralisation hosted in the shear zone over total strike length of about 640 metres within the Wild Viper prospect tenement.
The company previously said that the 382-shear is interpreted to strike over more than 2.5km, although the structure only outcrops over a short section before disappearing below the shallow cover and hence, was never targeted historically by the old-timers.
In that sense, the trenching works will give Terrain its first real look at the width and gold grades on this shear zone, as it endeavours to assess and define maiden drilling targets on the structure.
The company’s Great Western gold project is situated on a granted mining lease containing a JORC-compliant mineral resource of 709,000 tonnes grading a solid 2.72g/t gold for just under 63,000 ounces.
The Wild Viper exploration licence containing the anomalous gold values on the 382-shear fully surrounds the Great Western mining lease.
Last year, Terrain reported exceptional metallurgical gold recoveries from ore composites of its oxidised, transitional and fresh ores from Great Western that averaged 96.3%, which bodes well for the wider project area.
All composites averaged above the critical threshold of 95% recovery, pointing to a conventional milling and processing route for any future ore stream from the deposit.
There are several toll treating options for Terrain to potentially consider in the Leonora district too.
To help build a critical mass of additional gold resources, the company outlined numerous exploration targets in the Wild Viper exploration tenement, including the 382-shear which lies less than 1km south of the historical Great Western workings.
Earlier this year, Terrain completed a short RC drilling campaign about 1km northeast of the mining lease that intersected the target structures it was seeking but returned no anomalous gold assays.
The company then completed a detailed geological review for the project and generated several structural trap sites for gold of similar dimensions to the Great Western resource, including the 382-shear zone.
The discovery of the high-grade gold assay on that shear in March set in motion the current trenching program and it appears to be a prospective location for Terrain to continue investigating the gold potential of its tenement holdings in this area.
By Matt Birney
