Explorer Barton Gold (ASX:BGD) is looking to further grow the mineral resources at its Tunkillia Gold Project in South Australia through reverse circulation (RC) drilling.
The work will include 7,500m of drilling and will focus on shallow extensions of existing 223 deposit resources. A drill rig is reported to have already been mobilised and is expected to arrive on site at Tunkillia shortly.
The $41.98 million market capitalisation says this initial program will also target areas with the potential to increase thickness and/or grade.
This program is designed to help inform a further updated Mineral Resource Estimate (MRE) for Tunkillia, which has seen its total mineralised footprint grow ‘significantly’ under Barton’s ownership, with 3 new satellite gold zones (Areas 223N, 191, AND 51) confirmed since November 2021.
Barton notes it will target these satellite zones for potential conversion to new JORC mineral resources. The company hopes to further build the project’s overall footprint and its potential long-term development profile.
Meanwhile, Barton announces its Chief Financial Officer, Nicholas Byrne, who has served the company since January 2022, will retire from his role following the completion of its 2023 accounts and filing of the company’s 30 June 2023 Annual Report.
Today’s announcement comes 4 months after an updated JORC MRE of 1.15 million ounce (Moz) gold (38 million tonnes @ 0.94 grams per tonne gold) was ushered in for the 223 deposit at Tunkillia, as announced by Barton in April 2023.
This updated MRE added 189,000 ounces of gold at an all-in cost of AUD$12 per ounce.
In addition, this news comes during Barton Gold’s appearance at the Australian Gold Conference 2023 in Sydney. The conference began yesterday (29 August) and is scheduled to conclude at 7pm AEST today (30 August).
Barton Gold currently has a total attributable 1.3Moz gold mineral resources endowment (40.6Mt @ 1g/t gold), a pipeline of ‘advanced’ exploration projects and brownfield mines, and sole ownership of the only regional gold mill in the central Gawler Craton in South Australia.
The company’s Tunkillia project is located within this region and is host to ‘district-scale’ structures with advanced satellite targets.
Barton Gold had $10.451 million cash at hand as of 30 June 2023, according to its latest quarterly report.
Write to Adam Drought at Mining.com.au
Images: Barton Gold
