Technology-focused explorer Barton Gold (ASX: BGD) has discovered a ‘significant’ new ~800m gold zone during Phase 1 drilling at its Tunkillia Gold Project in South Australia in a result that extends the project’s total mineralised strike by 30% to ~3.3km.
The new zone dubbed ‘223 North’ was uncovered approximately 500m northwest of the project’s 965koz Au 223 Deposit, and was initially identified using predictive mineralisation modelling.
Highlight assays results from the program’s first 20 holes over 100m spacing include:
- 10m @ 3.65 g/t Au from 51m;
- 7m @ 1.59 g/t Au from 57m;
- 2m @ 3.20 g/t Au from 63m;
- 6m @ 0.72 g/t Au from 65m;
- 1m @ 5.15 g/t Au from 66m; and
- 11m @ 1.75 g/t Au from 124m
Addressing the results, Barton Gold Managing Director Alexander Scanlon said: “I am pleased to announce a significant discovery at the Tunkillia Gold Project, where shallow intersections have confirmed our prediction for a new body of mineralisation northwest of the 223 Deposit. The 223 North prospect has been established as an ~800m long body of gold mineralisation. The 223 North mineralisation has been defined on the same ~100m spacing used for Inferred Resources in the 223 Deposit, where Barton recently defined 965koz Au JORC Resources on ~2.5km of strike. There is potential to extend 223 North a further ~1km through additional infill drilling.”
“shallow intersections have confirmed our prediction for a new body of mineralisation northwest of the 223 Deposit”
The company notes that 223 North has not been drilled below 150m from surface, and remains open at depth with potential for further mineralisation gains via infill work.
Historical drilling from the northern end of 223 North has provided data, which when combined with current drill results, displays a clear shallow mineralised profile, including ‘significant’ intersections ranging from ~50m to ~125m below surface.
Map of Tunkillia displaying the 223 Deposit & the newly-identified 223 North DepositThe result further underlines Barton’s strong emphasis on pre-drilling technical work, which at Tunkillia has included compilation, audit and cleanup of historical regional and exploration data, remodelling of JORC resources with refined methods, plus reprocessing historical data using advanced software to develop theorised models predictive of gold mineralisation.
Models developed from this approach have been drill-tested for validation, with the company noting that a new discovery has resulted from every single technical work program undertaken.
The company reports that further assays from Phase 1 drilling at Tunkillia and satellite target Area 191 are expected to be reported within weeks.
Images: Barton Gold Holdings Limited
