Wiluna Mining Corporation has intersected a flurry of ‘outstanding’ gold results from a first-hole probe of its Bulletin North Discovery target at its namesake mine site, about 750 kilometres northeast of Perth in Western Australia. According to the company, the results include a 0.3 metre section grading a staggering 3270 grams per tonne gold from 634m and a 1.5m hit going 8.30 g/t gold from 570m with the latter housed in a broader 10m section running 2.80 g/t gold from 563m.
Wiluna says the Bulletin North target is the first of nine significant sulphide shoots it is evaluating as a part of a 40,000m discovery program launched at the Wiluna mine site.
The high-grade sulphide mineralisation at Bulletin North sits about 150m along strike to its current resource boundaries in a modelled new shoot position.
Sulphide shoots were historically mined at the venture between 1930 and 1950, with subsequent exploration work in the early 1990s leading to the discovery of a shoot at the operations, which has since produced 800,000 ounces of gold at 8 g/t.
The new program is targeting shoot discovery in previously untested terrain.
According to the Wiluna, the discovery of the high-grade shoots could significantly boost its current mining plan by increasing the grade of its underground ore and also potentially lift gold production figures across its higher-grade mining areas.
In addition to its work at Bulletin North, the company says encouraging results from a resource development and grade control campaign at the proximal Bulletin and Happy Jack zones support its geological modelling and firms up its near-term production numbers.
Notable results from the resource infill program at Happy Jack include 7.84m grading 6.48 g/t from 248m, 11.95m at 6.04 g/t from 267.65 and 11m at 5.92 g/t from 88.5m.
Some of the leading results from the grade control program include 2.55m at 63.87 g/t from 19.15m at Happy Jack and 11.56m at 6.72 g/t from surface at Bulletin.
Wiluna says lithium-bearing pegmatites and nickel-copper-cobalt-platinum group element mineralisation could also be sprinkled around the company’s greater Wiluna exploration ground and it is advancing a suite of exploration work to sniff out the commodities.
The company is planning a ground-based EM survey to detect nickel-copper-cobalt and platinum group element conductors and says encouraging results could result in a future drill campaign.
Wiluna’s regional lithium prospects are boosted by Liontown Resources Mt Mann-Kathleen Valley project, a mere 90km away.
The company has engaged renowned mining consultancy group CSA Global to lend its expertise to the battery metal hunt and the outfit has already earmarked a trio of targets for its initial round of exploration.
With uber high-grade gold in the bag to follow up and the potential for lithium-bearing pegmatites alongside a host of other mineralisation to chase down, the Wiluna exploration team can expect some busy months ahead.
Watch this space.
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