Golden Rim Resources Ltd (ASX:GMR) is marching full steam ahead with a 10,000-metre reverse circulation (RC) drill program at the flagship Kada Gold Project in Guinea.
The company has so far completed 2,233 metres of RC drilling across 17 holes at the Massan prospect, taking in all its designated high-priority holes.
During the campaign, seven holes were extended because mineralisation was noted at the planned depth of these holes.
Rig at Bereko
The RC rig has now moved to the Bereko prospect, following up on multiple zones of high-grade mineralisation along a 5.5-kilometre-long bedrock gold anomaly, with grades including 11 metres at 6.3 g/t gold and 10 metres at 5.6 g/t gold.
The company has 6,000 metres of drilling planned here and as of January 8, 1,318 metres, or 12 holes, have been finished.
In addition, a trenching campaign covering six trenches for around 800 metres has kicked off at Massan to enhance the company’s understanding of geometry and structural controls of mineralisation in the 930,000-ounce gold mineral resource area.
This trenching is expected to provide important structural information to assist in geological modelling and help guide the location of planned infill drilling in the mineral resource.
Diamond rig on the way
A diamond drill rig is being mobilised to Kada and is expected to start 3,500 metres of drilling shortly across the Massan and Bereko prospects.
Diamond drilling will focus on confirming the width, grade and extensions of the gold mineralisation discovered in the initial RC drilling program and providing the structural information required for resource estimation.
The drilling at Massan has three main objectives:
- testing numerous zones of open mineralisation at depth (including below 29 metres at 8.5 g/t gold in the previous hole);
- testing numerous deeper exploration targets identified by gradient-array Induced Polarisation (IP) and Pole-Dipole IP geophysical surveys completed in late 2022; and
- providing further critical structural information to progress the mineral resource towards an indicated classification.
Assays anticipated soon
Core from the first nine RC holes has been dispatched to the laboratory for analysis, with results expected later this month.
Golden Rim chief executive officer Tim Strong said: “We are delighted at the speed with which the drilling has commenced and the progress of our exploration program at our flagship Kada project in Guinea.
“RC drilling has averaged more than 1,000 metres per week at Massan. The RC rig has moved to the Bereko prospect, 9 kilometres north of the current mineral resource, allowing us to commence a trenching campaign at Massan to further improve geological confidence within the mineral resource area.
“A diamond drilling rig is scheduled to commence soon and is expected to provide us with vital structural information about the controls on mineralisation across both the Massan and Bereko prospects.
“We are expecting our first assay results towards the end of January, and the two drill rigs and trenching will provide us with a steady stream of new results over the coming months.”