Black Cat Syndicate (ASX:BC8) has announced it has begun diamond drilling at the Balagundi Cu-Zn-Pb-Au project 25km east of Kalgoorlie in Western Australia.
The company reports that it plans to test 3 ‘highly prospective’ targets throughout September, including Anvil (Cu-Pb-Zn-Au) anomaly, Brontes (Cu) gossan, and Asterope (Cu) gossan.
Drilling has already started at the Brontes target.
Drilling will test electromagnetic (EM) plate conductors with coincidence copper anomalism identified at all 3 targets in a Moving Loop EM (MLEM) survey conducted this month.
The MLEM survey defined 5 plate conductors coincidence with copper anomalism in auger samples and mapped gossans, with 3 of these plates sitting at depths between 70m and 500m and will be tested with three diamond holes.
Black Cat reports the holes will be completed this month and the results are expected in the December 2022 quarter.
Addressing the drill program, Black Cat Managing Director Gareth Solly said Balagundi is an overlooked historical ‘high-grade’ goldfield close to Kalgoorlie and its Myhree Mining Centre.
“We are excited to be drilling the high-quality base metals and gold targets, with EIS funding support.
“The potential for a VMS-style base metal or another gold discovery on the doorstep of Kalgoorlie provides an exciting new opportunity”
“The potential for a VMS-style base metal or another gold discovery on the doorstep of Kalgoorlie provides an exciting new opportunity for Black Cat, while we continue to grow our high-grade gold Resources across Coyote, Paulsens and Kal East.”
The Balagundi Project is part of Black Cat’s Kal East Gold Project, and it sits immediately adjacent to the north-west portion of their Myhree Mining Centre.
Balagundi is prospective for both VMS-style base metals and gold deposits.
Anvil was historically defined on a 400m by 100m auger grid, with the results showing a discrete copper anomaly with values up to 643ppm Cu over 1.5km of strike length.
Infill auger sampling on a 100m by 20m grid subsequently defined a coincident Cu-Pb-Zn-Au anomaly.
No drilling has been undertaken at Anvil to date, and 1 diamond hole is planned to test the upper extent of the west-dipping plate model, on the contact between sediment and basalt.
The 2 mapped Bronte and Asterope gossans occur less than 1km east of Anvil, and the gossans are anomalous in base metals.
In 1974, Esso drilled a single 300m deep diamond hole that intersected the target horizon below the Brontes gossan.
Carbonaceous shales, separated by sulphidic breccias were intersected in this hole over an interval of 12m.
The hanging wall of this zone was logged as mafic while the footwall was logged as felsic, indicating the target horizon is located within this stratigraphic sequence.
One diamond hole will test the MLEM plate model at a vertical depth of about 100m below the surface, which is near the upper extent of the sub-vertical plate model and located 300m alongside strike to the southeast of the Esso hole.
The Asterope gossan sits at the western end of a copper in soil anomaly, with gossanous outcrop nearby.
One diamond hole will test a steep dipping MLEM plate at 200m below the surface, which is near the middle of the plate model, and located along strike to the north of the gossanous outcrop.
The drilling is co-funded by the Western Australian Department of Mines, Industry Regulation and Safety (DMIRS) Exploration Incentive Scheme (EIS), with DMIRS providing up to $146,970.
The Kal East Gold Project which is 1 of 3 operations being run by Black Cat comprises of just under 800km-square of ‘highly prospective’ ground east of Kalgoorlie.
Kal East contains a Resource of 18.8Mt @ 2.1g/t Au for 1,294Moz, including preliminary JORC 2012 Reserve of 3.7Mt @ 2.0g/t Au for 243,000oz.
Black Cat plans to construct a central processing facility near the Majestic Mining Centre less than 50km east of Kalgoorlie.
The 800,000tpa processing facility will be a traditional carbon-in-leach gold plant which Black Cat reports is ideally suited to their Resources as well as to third party free milling ores located around Kalgoorlie.
The other two operations being run by Black Cat include the Coyote Gold Operation, located near the Northern Territory border in Western Australia, and the Paulsens Gold Operation located 180km west of Paraburdoo in Western Australia.
Black Cat is also earning up to 75% from Essential Metals (ASX:ESS).
Images: Black Cat Syndicate Ltd
