Silver Mines Ltd (ASX:SVL) has recorded its best gold results to date at the Bowdens Silver Project near Mudgee in Central West New South Wales.
The company has included gold in its Bowdens estimations for the first time, contained in a maiden underground mineral resource predominantly within the Bundarra Zone directly underneath the planned open-cut pit.
Highlights
One drill hole has cut through the Rylstone Volcanics and into the Coomber Formation basement where it has returned the widest and highest-grade gold to date at the Bowdens Project:
- 131 metres at 0.49 g/t gold, 16 g/t silver, 0.25% zinc and 0.16% lead (0.92 g/t gold equivalent) from 65 metres, including;
- 32.6 metres at 1.37 g/t gold, 31 g/t silver, 0.38% zinc and 0.20% lead (2.09 g/t gold equivalent) from 92.4 metres, including;
- 1-metre at 10.05 g/t gold, 50 g/t silver, 1.13% zinc and 0.60% lead (11.65 g/t gold equivalent) from 107 metres.
Gold was found at shallow depths in the south of Bowdens in 2021, along with high grades of silver mineralisation.
The area has since become a further target for gold and silver exploration drilling during 2022 and is now called the Southern Gold Zone.
Highly deformed fault
Drilling has targeted an area previously undrilled and encountered a large fault between the known Gully and Eastern Faults.
This fault is quartz flooded, highly deformed and could be responsible for localising gold and silver-rich mineralisation into complex fracture-connected veins.
This mineralisation style is characteristic to the southern area at Bowdens.
The presence of gold is indicative of silver, zinc and sulphur, particularly across the volcanics and basement contact where thicker pyrite (iron sulphide) and sphalerite (zinc sulphide) rich stockwork veins are observed.
Research studies have shown that gold is associated with a silver-rich electrum, a naturally occurring alloy of gold and silver. This is of epithermal origin at Bowdens.
Importantly, gold is prevalent within the welded and crystal tuffs of the Rylstone Volcanics, which indicates further metal zoning of the system.
Multiple areas targeted
With the release of a maiden underground mineral resource on September 5, exploration has shifted to testing extensions of mineralisation outside the current planned open-cut pit design and testing for higher grades within the open-cut pit design.
Multiple areas have been targeted for extensional drilling, including the north at Main, Aegean and Northwest zones and in and to the south of the planned open-cut pit where anomalous gold has been identified.
In the Aegean Zone, outside of the open-cut pit design, the company found:
- 109 metres at 70 g/t silver from 85 metres; and
- 14 metres at 164 g/t silver from 225 metres.
The 15,000-metre diamond drill program continues.