ASX-listed gold and base metals explorer, White Cliff Minerals, has completed an extensive geochemical soil sampling program at its Midas copper-gold project in the coveted Paterson Province of WA. Just over 500 samples were gathered across five of seven priority target areas previously identified by the Perth-based junior, with pending assay results expected to help form the basis of a maiden drilling program at the project.
The Paterson Province, in the remote Great Sandy Desert, has re-emerged as a minerals hot spot following the recent copper-gold discoveries of Winu and Havieron, owned by Rio Tinto and under a joint venture between Newcrest Mining and Greatland Gold, respectively. It also takes in Newcrest’s world-class Telfer gold-copper mine.
According to White Cliff, even though the Midas project has been subject to limited and sporadic exploration activities, the presence of gold mineralisation and favourable host geology has been detected.
White Cliff Minerals Technical Director, Ed Mead said: “We feel these tenements are highly prospective, yet underexplored. Our previous detailed technical review highlighted 21 prospective targets across the two tenements, with the seven priority targets the focus of this sampling program. Due to logistical challenges, five of these targets were sampled during the program.”
“The upcoming results of the sampling program will help define a maiden drilling program to be undertaken by the company. We look forward to advancing the Midas project in conjunction with the planned exploration at the company’s recently acquired Reedy South gold project near Cue.”
White Cliff’s recently completed soil sampling program, carried out by XM Logistics and the company’s exploration geologist, consisted of 502 samples spaced 200m apart on 400m-spaced east-west lines for about 105-line km of sampling.
The remoteness of the area, coupled with harsh terrain, prevented sampling over part of the company’s project area. Results from the samples that were able to be collected are expected in coming weeks, contingent on under-the-pump assay laboratories getting through the pile of samples flooding in from the sheer volume of exploration work happening in WA.
Late last month White Cliffs put out a maiden inferred and indicated resource of 779,000 tonnes grading 1.7 grams per tonne for 42,400 ounces of contained gold for its historic Reedy South gold project 40km north of Cue in WA’s Murchison goldfields.
It came on the back of detailed analysis of historical RC drilling undertaken by previous owners of the project comprising 117 holes totalling 7,182m.
White Cliff hopes to launch its first RC and diamond drilling program at Reedy South in coming weeks using the mineral resource estimate to generate drill-ready targets.
The Reedy South project area covers about 1km of strike along the gold-bearing Reedy Shear Zone, which plays host to several high-grade gold deposits including Westgold Resources’ South Emu-Triton underground gold mine at the Reedy’s gold mining centre about 800m to the north of Reedy South.
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