Corazon Mining (ASX:CZN) is awaiting assay results from step-out drilling 800m south of the Chalice pit, where gold mineralisation has been intersected across 450m of strike.
The company has received results from a further 27 holes drilled as part of its maiden reverse circulation program at its 100%-owned Chalice Gold Project in Western Australia.
According to Corazon, assays confirm gold in 23 of the 29 holes reported to date.
The strongest results include 8m @ 3.15 grams per tonne gold (Au) from 110m — including 4m @ 5.42g/t Au — and 9m @ 1.88g/t Au from 103m.
Step-out holes further south returned 4m @ 1.80g/t Au from 20m and 2m @ 3.76g/t Au from 54m.
The program marks the first drill test of the Chalice exploration target, estimated at 9.7–12.3 million tonnes (Mt) at 1.9–2.1g/t Au, representing 600,000–830,000 ounces. The target includes a mineral resource estimate (MRE) of 2.18Mt at 2.74g/t Au for 191,000 ounces.
Managing Director Simon Coyle says the exploration target was built on the hypothesis that the ground south of the Chalice pit holds “considerably more gold than the current resource reflects”.
“This program was designed to put that to the test, and the drilling has delivered,” Coyle says.
“We’ve intersected gold within the target wireframes along roughly 450m of strike, much of it outside the 2014 MRE wireframes and close to surface.
“That matters because the exploration target […] is more than three times the size of the current […] resource. Every hole that lands in the target area builds our confidence in the geology behind it, and it all sits on a granted mining lease close to established processing infrastructure.”
With mineralisation remaining open to the south, Coyle adds that the company is “far from finished”. Drilling remains ongoing, with assays for five drill holes pending.
The 7,500m, 50-hole program is scheduled for completion this month, with results expected to inform an updated MRE ahead of deeper phase-two drilling.
“There’s work to do to turn a target into a resource, but Chalice is giving us every reason to keep drilling,” Coyle concludes.
Corazon Mining is a gold explorer and producer primarily focused on its Chalice Gold Project in WA’s Eastern Goldfields.
Write to Paula Fabe at Mining.com.au
Main image: Corazon Mining
