Auteco Minerals Ltd (ASX: AUT) announced that its ongoing 45,000m drilling program is generating strong results in line with the Company’s strategy to extend the known mineralisation at Pickle Crow project in Ontario, Canada.
The company said that the current phase of drilling successfully intersected extensions to known mineralised structures in addition to the discovery of previously undefined mineralisation, all of which are outside of the reported 1Moz Resource.
Significant hits included 5.6m @ 33.4 g/t gold from 20.3m in hole AUDD0078; and 2m @ 8.2 g/t gold from 396.5m in hole AUDD0056 (Shaft 1 Veins) – Extension of Structure.
Auteco said that an updated Mineral Resource estimate is on track for delivery in the June quarter, 2021 and the company is fully funded to continue its 3-rig drill program.
Exploration program at Pickle Crow
The company had commenced a 45,000m drill program at Pickle Crow with the objective of delivering an updated Mineral Resource estimate in the June quarter, 2021.
To date, a total of 84 diamond drill holes for 19,423m were completed with assay results returned or partially returned for 25 holes.
There are currently 3 surface diamond drill rigs on site. The drilling thus far focused exclusively on near mine extensions and discovery of mineralised structures outside of the reported Resource.
AUT said that the near mine extensional drilling completed to date focused on 3 key areas in close proximity to existing shaft infrastructure (Shaft 1, Shaft 2, and the Albany Shaft).
More shallow high-grade lodes
The company said that the current phase of drilling successfully intersected extensions to known mineralised structures in addition to the discovery of previously undefined mineralisation, all of which are outside of the reported 1Moz Resource.
Important results included 5.6m @ 33.4 g/t gold from 20.3m in hole AUDD0078 (Shaft 3 Veins) – New Structure; 1.6m @ 16.7 g/t gold from 12.7m in hole AUDD0077 (Shaft 3 Veins) – New Structure; 2m @ 8.2 g/t gold from 396.5m in hole AUDD0056 (Shaft 1 Veins) – Extension of Structure; and 4m @ 5.9 g/t gold from 420m in hold AUDD0056 (Shaft 1 Veins) – Extension of Structure.
Vein extensions
Auteco said that the latest drilling has also extended the Shaft 1 veins, demonstrating continuity from previously released Auteco drill results. Results included 0.6m @ 99.4 g/t gold from 167.4m in hole AUDD0017 (Shaft 1 Veins); 1.6m @ 25.8 g/t gold from 95m in hole AUDD0013 (Shaft 1 Veins); 1.6m @ 19.6 g/t gold from 372m in AUDD0019 (Shaft 1 Veins); and 1.53m @ 26.6 g/t gold from 8.53m in 744-28 (Shaft 3 Veins)
AUT said that the mineralisation is open on all lodes along strike and at depth, and the resources are from the surface and are adjacent to existing underground mine development and infrastructure.
Auteco Executive Chairman, Ray Shorrocks, said: “These latest results provide more evidence of the strong potential to grow the 1Moz Resource at Pickle Crow.
This is supported by the definition of multiple new areas of high-grade quartz vein-hosted mineralisation with excellent geological continuity and multiple instances of visible gold. This is the same style of mineralisation from which the mine produced 1.5Moz at 16 g/t historically.”
Updates and next steps
The company said that at the completion of phase 2 work program (near mine extensions), the program will transition to infill drilling and Resource definition, providing sufficient data density to update the Mineral Resource estimate. The company said that an updated Mineral Resource estimate is on track for delivery in the June quarter, 2021.
Auteco said that it is fully funded to continue its 3-rig drill program to increase the Resource and test new targets at Pickle Crow with $32M cash on hand, as of 30 September 2020. The company also recently appointed Darren Cooke as Chief Operating Officer to oversee Auteco’s push to increase the Resource and identify new targets at Pickle Crow.
