Alkane Resources (ASX:ALK) has identified several gold-rich deposits at its Tomingley project in New South Wales after completing an expansive regional exploration program.
Covering an area of 440km-square, the project hosts an open-pit mine and underground operation with a one-million-tonnes-per-year processing facility, as well as a secondary region known as the Tomingley Gold Extension Project (TGEP).
Alkane drilled 142 aircore (AC) holes totalling 15,321m, 18 reverse circulation (RC) holes for 5,212m, and 4 diamond holes for 1,481m, all of which focused on the McLeans, Roswell North, Plains, El Paso and Allendale prospects that sit within 7km of Tomingley’s processing hub.
At McLean, infill drilling defined the strike length of the prospect to a maximum of 300m, while underground diamond drilling returned 5.1m at 1.45 grams per tonne (g/t) gold from 126.4m. A maiden underground inferred resource estimate for McLean is currently underway and will be published later this year.
Exploration at El Paso focused on the southern end of the prospect, where a substantial amount of cover prevented 2 of the 6 holes from reaching their target depth. Nevertheless, drilling returned 42m at 1.68g/t gold from 42m, including 6m at 2.98g/t gold. A high resolution airborne magnetic survey has been planned to improve the definition of the host structures, while further drilling will take place early next year.
At the Plains prospect, strike extents of previously identified zones were tested, returning 3m at 2.08g/t gold and 6m at 0.83g/t gold. Located 1km south-east of the Roswell deposit, the Plains prospect shares the same north-west-trending structural zone, and further drilling will also take place early next year.
Drilling at Allendale intersected 13m at 0.99g/t gold and 0.03% copper, and an airborne gravity survey has been planned for November this year before further drilling is carried out in 2024.
“We continue to explore at Tomingley both within our approved mining areas and regionally”
“We continue to explore at Tomingley both within our approved mining areas and regionally,” Managing Director Nic Earner says.
“With current plans already extending to 2032 we are seeking to add further mine life, scale, and grade to Tomingley. It is pleasing to see the various exploration targets around Tomingley yielding results and we look forward to adding the McLeans deposit to our resource base before the end of the calendar year.”
In addition to the Tomingley project, Alkane also owns the Northern Molong porphyry project in central New South Wales.
Shares in Alkane Resources are up 2.7% at 10:15am AEST.
