Riversgold Ltd (ASX:RGL) has encountered supergene gold at much shallower depths than anticipated at the Northern Zone (NZ) Gold Project near Kalgoorlie in Western Australia.
A reverse circulation (RC) drilling campaign intersected gold mineralisation to the north and south of the company’s maiden diamond drill hole on the tenure.
The drill bit was aimed specifically at a shallower, up-dip zone of mineralisation, hitting up to 18 metres at 4.14 g/t gold from 36 metres of depth and 54 metres at 0.38 g/t gold from 158 metres.
RGL intends to expand its exploration efforts with more drilling to the northeast, following the trend of the mineralised porphyry gold system.
Multiple targets for follow-up
“These latest results from our initial RC campaign at NZ exceed our expectations, revealing shallower supergene gold mineralisation than anticipated and delineating the southwest boundary of the gold system,” Riversgold chair David Lenigas said.
“Our next phase of drilling will explore extensions to the northeast, northwest and southeast, building on our maiden diamond drilling program that encountered mineralisation reaching depths of 450 metres and thicknesses exceeding 150 metres.
“A follow-up drill program will also target an identified fault, believed to be a controlling feature of mineralisation in the area.
“This follow-up campaign will be finalised after we receive all assays from the recent aircore (drilling) program, conducted concurrently with the RC drilling.
“We look forward to receiving these drilling results shortly.”
RGL previously announced a conceptual exploration target of 200 to 250 million tonnes at a grade of 0.4 to 0.6 g/t gold for the NZ Project, amounting to a potential 2.5 to 4.8 million ounces of gold.
Assay results of note
Notable results from this latest round of RC drilling at the NZ Project include:
- 18 metres at 4.14g/t gold from 36 metres;
- 54 metres at 0.38 g/t from 158 metres;
- 14 metres at 0.76 g/t from 226 metres to the end of hole;
- 15 metres at 0.66 g/t from 160 metres;
- 8 metres at 0.57 g/t from 221 metres to the end of hole;
- 9 metres at 0.85 g/t from 176 metres; and,
- 22 metres at 0.41 g/t from 272 metres to the end of hole.
Results of note from the maiden 2023 diamond drill traverse included:
RSDD01 - 47 metres at 0.48 g/t gold from 216 metres, including 1 metre at 4.74 g/t from 244 metres and 1 metre at 4.04 g/t from 262 metres.
RSDD02 -
- 8 metres at 0.55 g/t gold from 127 metres;
- 110 metres at 0.60 g/t from 208 metres, including 2 metres at 2.64 g/t from 208 metres, 5 metres at 3.03 g/t from 221 metres, 1 metre at 4.77 g/t from 248 metres, 1 metre at 5.26 g/t from 262 metres and 13 metres at 1.29 g/t from 274 metres.
RSDD03 -
- 16.4 metres at 0.45 g/t gold from 83.6 metres;
- 13 metres at 0.48 g/t from 135 metres;
- 11 metres at 0.49 g/t from 197 metres;
- 25 metres at 0.44 g/t from 231 metres; and
- 84 metres at 0.42 g/t from 315 metres, including 3.32 metres at 2.73 g/t from 332 metres.
RSDD04 -
- 4 metres at 0.52 g/t gold from 34 metres;
- 8 metres at 0.43 g/t from 77 metres; and
- 4 metres at 0.47 g/t from 92 metres.
The NZ Project is 26 kilometres ESE of the Kalgoorlie Super Pit and is readily accessed from the Bulong road, which is paved to within 9 kilometres of the prospect site. The last 9 kilometres consists of 4 kilometres of a high-quality haul road with the last 5 kilometres on a station road.