Maximus Resources Ltd has expanded its resource potential after it identified shallow high-grade gold mineralisation at the Eagles Nest deposit, around 7 kilometres south of its Wattle Dam Gold Project in Western Australia's Eastern Goldfields region.
Recent assay results from a completed reverse circulation (RC) drill program at Eagles Nest revealed significant shallow intersections in previously untested areas above the current resource block model that indicate the potential for that resource uplift.
Notable results include 7 metres at 2.0 g/t gold, including 3 metres at 3.2 g/t, and 10 metres at 2.2 g/t gold, including 2 metres at 2.7 g/t and 3 metres at 3.9 g/t.
Eleven RC holes totalling 732 metres were drilled to test mineralisation within an optimised pit shell, validate historical drilling, and investigate previously unclassified areas.
Three scout RC holes covering 228 metres were also completed along the 3-kilometre Eagle's Nest–Groundlark corridor, targeting anomalies defined by rock chip sampling. Earlier sampling in this corridor returned grades of up to 9.8 g/t gold.
Key assay results
- 10 metres @ 2.24g/t gold from 37 metres, including:
- 2 metres @ 2.71g/t gold from 38 metres
- 3 metres @ 3.88g/t gold from 44 metres
(MXENRC059)
- 7 metres @ 2.01g/t gold from 22 metres, including:
- 3 metres @ 3.21g/t gold from 26 metres
(MXENRC058)
- 3 metres @ 3.21g/t gold from 26 metres
- 8 metres @ 1.73g/t gold from 44 metres, including:
- 4 metres @ 2.71g/t gold from 44 metres
(MXENRC062)
- 4 metres @ 2.71g/t gold from 44 metres
- 1 metres @ 0.88g/t gold from 73 metres, 5 metres @ 1.87g/t gold from 77 metres, including:
- 2 metres @ 3.05g/t gold from 78 metres
- 1 metre @ 1.29g/t gold from 85 metres
(MXENRC054)
- 4 metres @ 1.03g/t gold from 74 metres, and 1 metre @ 0.73g/t gold from 83 metres
(MXENRC056)
Low-cost development opportunity at Eagles Nest
The shallow and free-milling nature of the mineralisation highlights Eagles Nest as a potentially low-cost development opportunity with expedited mining potential. These findings enhance the project’s economic viability and justify further exploration.
Further work, including additional drilling and resource modelling, is planned to assess the scale and economic potential of this discovery.
Eagles Nest is situated some 7 kilometres south of the company’s Wattle Dam Gold Project. The gold resource at Eagles Nest, totalling 42,550 ounces at 2.0 g/t gold, is hosted within structurally controlled contacts between east-dipping mafic-ultramafic rock units and an interflow metasedimentary unit.
The mineralisation exhibits a north-south trend (see below) over a strike length exceeding 300 metres, dipping eastward at around 70° with a true thickness of up to 14 metres. It remains open at depth and along strike, with more than 3 kilometres of identified gold mineralisation, including rock chip assays of up to 9.8 g/t gold.
The most recent drilling program targeted a shallow up-plunge zone at Eagles Nest in a previously unexplored area, where no mineral resource has been outlined to date.
Recent drilling confirmed the continuity and grade of gold mineralisation beyond the existing resource block model (Figure 3 see below). Drill hole MXENRC059 intersected 10 metres at 2.24 g/t gold from 37 metres, including 2 metres at 2.71g/t gold from 38 metres and 3 metres at 3.88g/t gold from 44 metres. Similarly, MXENRC058 returned 7 metres at 2.01g/t gold from 22 metres, including 3 metres at 3.21g/t gold from 26 metres.
Drill hole MXENRC054, situated 40 metres south of the current resource boundary, intersected 1 metre at 0.88g/t gold from 73 metres and 5 metres at 1.87g/t gold from 77 metres, including 2 metres at 3.05g/t gold from 78 metres and 1 metre at 1.29g/t gold from 85 metres.
These results confirm that mineralisation remains open to the south, with shallow high-grade gold evident in the area (Figure 2).
The 3-kilometre Eagle's Nest–Groundlark gold corridor remains underexplored, with previous shallow reconnaissance air-core drilling identifying broad zones of mineralisation. Maximus Resources has followed up on anomalies highlighted by rock chip sampling within this corridor, delivering promising results:
- MXENRC063: 1 metre at 1.12g/t gold from 15 metres, around 1 kilometre north of Eagle’s Nest.
- GERC001: 2 metres at 0.83g/t gold from 58 metres, around 1 kilometre south of Eagle’s Nest.
- GERC002: 8 metres at 0.76g/t gold from 44 metres, around 1.3 kilometres south of Eagle’s Nest.
The latest findings underscore a substantial anomalous gold trend within the Eagle's Nest–Groundlark corridor and highlight the potential for significant mineralisation along strike.
The results reinforce the need for systematic drilling to define higher-grade zones and further delineate the mineralised system.