Yandal Resources Ltd (ASX:YRL) has re-evaluated the Oblique prospect of the Ironstone Well-Barwidgee (IWB) Gold Project in Western Australia after a five-hole diamond drilling program revealed shallow oxide gold.
YRL’s drilling results point to a broad, low-grade zone of shallow mineralisation within fresh rock, beneath a supergene-enriched oxide and transition zone.
This means that while the gold mineralisation at Oblique may be relatively low in grade, it’s likely to be shallow and abundant, potentially offering a cost-effective bulk mining opportunity just 5 kilometres to the north of the existing 268,000-ounce Flushing Meadows mineral resource.
Exploration target revised
“The diamond drilling program across Oblique has provided the exploration team with invaluable insights into the structures and stratigraphy that control the broad mineralised system,” Yandal Resources managing director Chris Oorschot said.
“These learnings can be widely applied to refine our targeting models across the project.
“Based on the diamond drilling results, we have revised the exploration target for the Oblique Prospect to focus on shallow oxide mineralisation.
“Given the prospect's proximity to the predominantly oxide Flushing Meadows deposit, there is value in pursuing oxide and transitional mineralisation at Oblique and we will look to test this position further within the next six to 12 months.”
YRL’s new conceptual exploration target for Oblique includes a lower range of 2.9 million tonnes at 1.00 g/t gold for 90,000 ounces and an upper range of 3.4 million tonnes at 1.3 g/t gold for 140,000 ounces of gold.
Caladan and Irulan targets
Yandal has also secured access approvals for an initial aircore drilling program across the Caladan and Irulan target areas, including 800-metre spaced lines across the Irulan Dolerite Complex and a single line across the Caladan Fold structure.
The company is also working on heritage clearance surveys for nine more 800-metre spaced aircore lines across the Caladan Fold target area, where regional soil sampling is underway.
Line clearing for the drilling program will begin this week with drilling to begin in earnest in October this year.
In other news, YRL is also anticipating results from diamond drilling at the New England Granite prospect to arrive presently, with preparations for a follow-up program in the works and further results from a diamond drilling program at the Quarter Moon prospect expected sometime this month.