Alto sees expansion potential at Lord Nelson with ‘significant’ gold hits outside of current resource

Alto Metals Limited (ASX: AME) has hit further thick, high-grade gold intersections including 19m @ 6 g/t Au from RC drilling below the Lord Nelson pit, at its Sandstone Gold Project in Western Australia.

New one-metre fire assay results were received from eight RC holes totalling 1,730m. Of these, holes SRC422 to SRC425 targeted down-dip extensions of the Lord Nelson hanging wall and footwall lodes at depth beneath the historic pit, and holes SRC426 to SRC429 targeted plunge extensions of the footwall and hanging wall lodes.

Key intercepts from the drill campaign include:

• Hole SRC423: 3m @ 11.4 g/t Au from 191m and 48m @ 3.4 g/t Au from 214m;
  • incl. 19m @ 6.0 g/t Au from 223,
    • incl 3m @ 11.5 g/t Au from 238m (ending in mineralisation)
• Hole SRC422: 26m @ 2.0 g/t Au from 232m and 11m @ 1.1 g/t Au from 263m
• Hole SRC429: 43m @ 1.0 g/t Au from 170m
  • incl. 1m @ 5.0 g/t Au from 177m and 1m @ 5.1 g/t Au from 205m
• Hole SRC425: 14m @ 2.2 g/t Au from 182m
  • incl. 2m @ 13.4 g/t Au from 183m
• Hole SRC426: 32m @ 1.0 g/t Au from 148m
  • incl 3m @ 5.2 g/t Au from 148m and 21m @ 1.0 g/t Au from 183m
• Hole SRC427: 19m @ 1.0 g/t Au from 107m (ending in mineralisation)
• Hole SRC424: 2m @ 5.9 g/t Au from 185m
• Hole SRC428: 10m @ 1.6 g/t Au from 136m
  • incl. 1m @ 5.9 g/t Au from 139m

‘Significant’ potential for future resource growth

Alto noted that hole SRC423 was drilled 160m north from SRC176, which had returned 16m @ 5.2 g/t Au from 240m, confirming continuity of high-grade mineralisation that remains open both up and down dip and down plunge.

Importantly, all of the new results were outside of the current resource boundary, highlighting what Alto describes at ‘significant’ potential for further new discoveries and resource growth at the Sandstone Gold Project.

Next steps

Assays are currently pending for 16 diamond holes and over 120 RC holes from Lord Henry, Lord Nelson, Vanguard, and Indomitable, as the broader sector grapples with laboratory bottlenecks.

RC drilling remains ongoing, focusing on resource definition at Vanguard and extensional drilling at Indomitable. Drilling has been reduced to one RC rig to allow time for receipt of a number of pending assays.

“These are exciting results with 48m @ 3.4 g/t gold, including a high-grade core of 19m @ 6.0 g/t gold”

Management comments

Alto Metals Managing Director Matthew Bowles said: “These are exciting results with 48m @ 3.4 g/t gold, including a high-grade core of 19m @ 6.0 g/t gold from SRC423, one of the best results Alto has had so far, from deeper drilling beneath the Lord Nelson pit.

Importantly these results, all from outside the current resource, demonstrate the continuity of high-grade mineralisation at Lord Nelson and the potential for significant future resource growth.

With RC drilling continuing, investors can look forward to further results as we wait for assays from 16 diamond holes and over 120 RC holes, in addition to an updated mineral resource estimate later in the year, subject to final assays.”

Images: Alto Metals Limited