Bardoc Gold Limited (ASX: BDC) has announced excellent results from the recently completed diamond drilling at the South Castlereagh Prospect of its 100%-owned Bardoc Gold Project in WA.
The company reported that the diamond core drilling at South Castlereagh returned significant shallow results.
Highlights include 16.4m @ 2.81g/t Au from 93m including 3.8m @ 5.30g/t Au from 97.2m; 11.9m @ 1.44g/t Au from 112m; and 3.3m @ 3.48g/t Au from 145.7m including 1.0m @ 10.38g/t Au from 148m.
The company reported that South Castlereagh would be included as part of updated project-wide Mineral Resource estimate for the Bardoc Gold Project, which is on track for Q3 2019.
Bardoc said that the diamond core will allow a portion of the Mineral Resource for South Castlereagh to be classified as Indicated.
Bardoc also reported that the first phase of exploration RAB drilling has been completed at both the Bulletin Area and over the Black Flag Fault, with assay results pending.
Bardoc gold project
BDC’s 100%-owned 2.6Moz Bardoc Gold Project is located 30 to 55km north of Kalgoorlie in Western Australia.
The Project covers 96 square kilometres of granted mining leases and prospecting licences over the intersection of the well mineralised Bardoc Tectonic Zone greenstone sequence with the cross cutting Black Flag Fault system.
The project’s historic gold production had occurred largely from the underground Zoroastrian mine.
The company had commenced an expanded +40,000m exploration drilling program at Bardoc, which is expected to be incorporated in a project-wide Mineral Resource update due later this quarter.
Bardoc has now announced the results from the drilling program at the South Castlereagh Prospect.
South Castlereagh prospect
Castlereagh Area is an area of significant mineralization which incorporates both the Castlereagh and South Castlereagh mineralised systems, with the Nerrin Nerrin prospect located just 700m to the southwest.
The South Castlereagh is interpreted as the southern extension of the Excelsior Shear, which hosts gold prospects with broad mineralisation along its entire 8km strike length. It is located ~3km south of the 428koz Au Zoroastrian Deposit.
Diamond drilling at South Castlereagh
BDC reported that two diamond core drill holes were drilled at South Castlereagh towards the south-east in order to optimally intersect both the South Castlereagh main lodes and the controlling lithology and structures.
The company announced that the diamond drilling at South Castlereagh returned excellent assays and also provided invaluable geological and structural knowledge. This is expected to assist with the impending Mineral Resource estimate and provide greater insights into the geological potential of the surrounding area.
Strong results reported from South Castlereagh
Bardoc reported significant shallow results from South Castlereagh. The best assay results were 16.4m @ 2.81g/t Au from 93m including 3.8m @ 5.30g/t Au from 97.2m; 11.9m @ 1.44g/t Au from 112m; and 3.3m @ 3.48g/t Au from 145.7m including 1.0m @ 10.38g/t Au from 148m.
The company noted that the diamond core results support previously announced intercepts from South Castlereagh, that included 14m @ 4.04g/t Au from 130m including 7m @ 5.78g/t Au from 131m; and 23m @ 2.27g/t Au from 138m including 4m @ 6.63g/t Au from 152m.
Diamond core for MRE, future mining studies
Bardoc said that the successful completion of the two diamond holes will allow portions of the Mineral Resource Estimate for South Castlereagh, which is currently underway, to be classified as a JORC Indicated Resource.
The data from the core includes the collection of specific gravity measurements, confirmation of the controlling structures, collection of pXRF data points and the ability to undertake closer inspection of the lithology and mineralization.
BDC said that data would enhance its understanding of the geological, structural orientation and geometry of the deposit. The company said that the core will also be used for future metallurgical recovery and comminution test work as part of any future mining studies.
It may be noted that the ore from the Castlereagh deposit was previously treated at the Paddington Mill and achieved recoveries of 97% through a standard cyanide leaching process.
Updates and future plans
Bardoc reported that the first phase of RAB drilling at the Bulletin South and Black Flag Fault areas has been completed and results are awaited.
The company announced that resource estimation is in progress on several prospects with a Q3 release planned. BDC also reported that data collection for pXRF work is ongoing to aid in exploration targeting and prospect evaluation and ranking.
Management statements
Bardoc Gold’s Chief Executive Officer Robert Ryan said: “Castlereagh South continues to deliver broad, high grade near surface intercepts which are amenable to open pit mining, with these latest diamond core results continuing our impressive run of drilling success at the Bardoc Gold Project.
In addition to confirming the scale and dimensions of the mineralisation in the Main Lode, the drilling has provided valuable structural, lithological and alteration information, which has increased our geological confidence in the prospect.
This information will be used to generate a new Resource model to be included in our global resource update due at the end of September.”
The emergence of South Castlereagh is consistent with the Company’s focus on developing a pipeline of satellite projects to complement our cornerstone deposits at Zoroastrian, Aphrodite and Excelsior. Mining studies will commence following the release of the project-wide Mineral Resource update, with PFS studies due in Q4.”
