Antipa Minerals Ltd (ASX:AZY) has reported significant zones of higher-grade gold mineralisation from within the original GEO-01 discovery samples at its flagship Minyari Dome Gold-Copper Project in Western Australia’s Paterson Province.
The GEO-01 discovery, made in August, was based on four metre composite samples, while the latest assay results revealing significantly high gold mineralisation come from one metre re-splits of the original discovery drilling assays.
Antipa submitted a total of 342 one metre re-split samples for assay to identify potential zones of higher-grade gold mineralisation within the four-metre composite samples from various GEO-01 reverse circulation (RC) drill holes.
Assay results for the re-split samples highlight multiple significant zones of thick high-grade gold mineralisation including a peak gold grade of 1 metre at 19.95 g/t gold from 137 metres down hole in drillhole 23MYC0384.
This compares to the previous highest-grade GEO-01 four metre composite result was 4 metres at 6.69 g/t gold.
Antipa managing director Roger Mason said, “We are very excited by these results which emphasise the opportunity that exists at the GEO-01 discovery. In particular, the high-grade mineralisation returned end-of-hole in 23MYC0384 highlights the latent growth potential to be unlocked with future drilling.
“Drilling has now recommenced, starting at GEO-01, and we look forward to testing all our high impact targets as we work through our expanded phase two CY2023 program at Minyari Dome.”
Phase 2 drilling
Drilling has now recommenced at GEO-01 as part of the expanded 20230 calendar year phase two exploration program, where significant infill and extensional RC, of 10,000 metres, is planned along with 400 metres of planned diamond core drilling.
With mineralisation open in most directions, the objective of phase two drilling at the GEO-01 discovery is to extend the high-grade gold zones and deliver on the significant potential maiden resource opportunity.
The project currently hosts a 1.8 million ounce gold resource at 1.6 grams per tonnes gold.
Any additional resource growth has the potential to significantly enhance the Minyari Dome development opportunity as outlined in last year’s scoping study.
Antipa noted that this year’s Minyari Dome Project exploration program and budget will be subject to ongoing review based on results, field conditions, contractor availability and pricing, and other relevant matters.
Significant assays
The company highlighted notable revised GEO-01 intersections, including:
- 11 metres at 1.6 grams per tonne (g/t) gold from 24 metres down hole in, including 2 metres at 5.9 g/t gold from 25 metres down hole, also including 1 metre at 9.3 g/t gold from 26 metres;
- 50 metres at 2.3 g/t gold from 72 metres down hole in (up from 68 metres at 1.4 g/t gold previously, based on 4 metre composites), including 19 metres at 5 g/t gold from 89 metres down hole, also including 5 metres at 10.5 g/t gold from 91 metres and 3 metres at 8.3 g/t gold from 103 metres; and
- 48 metres at 1.7 g/t gold from 132 metres down hole to end-of-hole (48 metres at 1.3 g/t gold previously), including 28 metres at 2.8 g/t gold from 133 metres down hole (previously 28 metres at 2.2 g/t gold based on 4 metre composites), also including 4 metres at 10.2 g/t gold from 134 metres and 2 metres at 3.9 g/t gold from 148 metres. A peak gold grade of 1 metre at 19.95 g/t gold from 137 metres down hole was also observed.