BPM Minerals (ASX:BPM) has commenced reverse circulation drilling at the Beachcomber prospect within its Forelands Gold Project in Western Australia.
According to BPM, drilling spans 20,000m, representing the largest exploration program in the company’s history. The two-phase program includes 10,000m of infill and extensional drilling at Beachcomber to support a JORC maiden mineral resource estimate, with co-funding support from the Western Australian Government‘s Exploration Incentive Scheme (EIS).
A further 10,000m maiden drilling campaign at the Bonnie & Clyde prospect will follow this quarter, pending regulatory approvals.
CEO Oliver Judd says the company is ‘excited’ to be drilling at Forelands once again.
“12 months of systematic work has grown Beachcomber from three historical fencelines into a large gold system with multiple mineralised lodes, and we are now heading back in to drill it to the density required to estimate a maiden resource,” Judd says.
The Beachcomber program targets multiple gold lodes where previous drilling extended the Main Lode to over 300m of strike and more than 250m of vertical depth, while discovering new lodes at Beachcomber North-West, Central, and Fault zones. BPM notes mineralisation remains open at all lodes.
Priority targets include plunging shoots at the Main and Central lodes and untested gaps at Beachcomber North-West.
Previous intercepts at Beachcomber include 3m @ 65.80 grams per tonne gold (Au) from 25m; 9m @ 7.77g/t Au from 75m, including 2m @ 21.73g/t Au; and 2m @ 20.95g/t Au from 266m, including 1m @ 41.30g/t Au.
Meanwhile, the upcoming program at Bonnie & Clyde will target an untested 6km gold-in-soil anomaly associated with the Yellow Dam Shear Zone. BPM has completed a 50m by 50m ultrafine fraction soil sampling program and a 30m line-spaced airborne magnetic survey to refine drill targets.
BPM also executed a heritage agreement with the Upurli Upurli Nguratja Aboriginal Corporation and completed heritage surveys to greenlight Bonnie & Clyde for drilling.
Results from the program, as well as final drilling approvals from the Department of Mines, Petroleum, and Exploration, are expected in coming weeks.
The company also expects to report assay results for both Beachcomber and Bonnie & Clyde throughout the December quarter.
The 630km² Forelands Project lies 150km east of Kalgoorlie along the Yilgarn Craton-Albany Fraser Orogen margin in a tectonic setting analogous to the Tropicana gold deposit.
BPM Minerals is a precious and critical mineral explorer with a portfolio of projects located across WA.
Write to Paula Fabe at Mining.com.au
Images: Mining.com.au
