Barton Gold (ASX: BGD) has commenced Phase 2 drilling at its Tunkillia Gold Project in South Australia’s Central Gawler Craton following the completion of Phase 3 infill work at the nearby Tarcoola Project.
The program is set to test the Area 51 prospect, located approximately 3km northwest of the cornerstone 223 deposit, and will also include followup testing at the Area 191 and 223 North gold zones.
Earlier Phase 1 drilling at the project was successful in identifying Area 191 and 223 North, adding around 1.5km of new mineralisation, along with confirming a higher-grade mineralisation zone at 223.
The company notes that recently-completed drilling at Tarcoola was tasked with consolidating the ‘high-grade’ Perseverance West gold zone, along with early-stage testing at the School and Ealbara prospects.
Speaking on the update, Barton Gold Managing Director Alexander Scanlon said: “Phase 1 drilling confirmed our thesis for multiple mineralised satellites at the Tunkillia Project, with a ~60% growth in the project’s total gold mineralised strike.
“We have only scratched the surface of the large-scale mineral potential at Tunkillia”
We have only scratched the surface of the large-scale mineral potential at Tunkillia, and will systematically evaluate priority targets with the objective of rapidly expanding Tunkillia’s mineral footprint. We believe the opportunity here to be far greater than previously known, including as we look down the shear zone.”
The 1,285km² Tunkillia Project, considered by some to be one of South Australia’s ‘most exciting’ undeveloped gold projects, has seen limited drill work outside of the 223 Deposit over the previous 20 years.
Map of Barton’s Tunkillia Project displaying Phase 2 drilling locationsThe project sits on around 50km of strike along the ‘highly prospective’ Yerda and Yarlbrinda Shear Zones, which are major structures measuring several kilometres in width and are considered to be analogous to major Kalgoorlie Shear Zone systems.
In October 2020 Barton released a JORC 2012 Mineral Resource upgrade at Tunkillia, with the 223 Deposit delivering 26.1Mt @ 1.15 g/t Au for 965,000 of contained gold. Importantly, 68% of the MRE sits within the Indicated Resource category.
Images: Barton Gold Holdings Ltd
