Silver Mines Ltd (ASX:SVL, OTC:SLVMF) is about to go in with the drills at the high-priority Bara Creek prospect, seven kilometres north of the company’s Bowdens Silver Project near Mudgee in Central West New South Wales.
Maiden drilling
This will be the first drilling program at Bara Creek, a prospect that has shown significant potential for high-sulphidation epithermal mineralisation.
The Bara Creek prospect was first identified in 1989 by CRA Exploration after stream sediment sampling returned anomalous gold, arsenic, silver, copper and antimony values.
Despite the early identification of mineralisation, the prospect was subject to minimal exploration activity and there has been no prior drilling.
In 2023, Silver Mines initiated a major fieldwork program, including geological mapping, geochemical surveying and ground-based gravity surveys.
These efforts revealed an extensive hydrothermal system on the southern extent of the Bara Creek caldera, with rock chip and soil sampling showing anomalous gold, silver, bismuth, molybdenum and arsenic values.
Polyphasal hydrothermal breccia vein with oxidation and some fresh sulphides.
The planned Stage 1 drilling program will include eight diamond drill holes, amounting to 2,600 metres, to test the potential of the Bara Creek caldera.
The site is between several major northwest and east-west trending faults, which are interpreted as potential conduits for fluid flow in an epithermal system.
Greenfield discovery opportunity
The geophysical and geochemical data indicate strong mineralisation potential, making Bara Creek a greenfield discovery opportunity.
Silver Mines has received all necessary approvals for the drilling, which is scheduled to kick off on October 14.
The company is targeting the hydrothermal breccia veins and the geochemically anomalous zones identified from earlier sampling.
Depending on results from the initial drill program, a second stage of drilling may be conducted, adding four more holes for an additional 1,600 metres.
The Bara Creek Prospect sits within the highly prospective Rylstone Volcanics, the same geological formation that hosts the Bowdens Silver Deposit, Australia's largest undeveloped silver deposit.
Silver Mines’ exploration at Bara Creek is part of its broader strategy to expand its resource base across the Bowdens Silver Project area, which covers more than 2,100 square kilometres.
The company expects busy news flow in the coming months as the drilling progresses and results roll in.