Great Boulder Resources (ASX:GBR) has unearthed ‘high-grade’ gold from ongoing maiden reverse circulation (RC) drilling at the Saltbush prospect, as part of its Side Well Gold Project in Western Australia.
The $35.92 million market capitalisation company says the gold has been encountered close to a ‘high-grade’ intersection in historic RC drilling in the vicinity of old workings.
Managing Director Andrew Paterson says: “We have been looking forward to drilling the Saltbush prospect for a long time, since we first took rock chip samples there in October 2022 and then found the nearby Esso RC drilling recorded in an old annual report from 1986. As a result it’s exciting to get confirmation of high-grade, shallow gold mineralisation in our second hole.
We now have an AC drilling program underway in the same area, with 5,000m planned before we take a break to compile results and plan the next stage of drill testing. There are a lot of highly prospective targets along the Ironbark corridor so we’re anticipating a lot of “new” news-flow in the coming months.”
Results include hole 23BRC002 with 9m @ 5.2g/t Au from 15m including 5m @ 7.42g/t Au from 18m; and hole 23BSRC003 with 3m @ 2.54g/t Au from 36m.
Drilling, which comprised 5 RC and 5 aircore (AC) drillholes, indicates a similar geological setting to the Ironbark deposit, which holds a resource of 100,000 ounces at 3.3g/t Au. Saltbush is one of many untested prospects along the 14km plus Ironbark Corridor.
Assays from the 5 AC holes are expected to be returned by February 2024. Drilling at Saltbush resumed on 14 January, with about 5,000m planned in the current program.
Additional RC drilling will also be planned for Saltbush to test mineralisation at depth and confirm the dip, strike, and continuity of the prospect.
Great Boulder Resources is a mineral explorer with a portfolio of ‘highly prospective’ gold and base metals assets in Western Australia ranging from greenfields to advanced exploration.
The company’s core focus is its Side Well Project at Meekatharra in the Murchison Goldfield, where exploration has defined a mineral resource of 7.45 million tonnes at 2.8g/t Au for 668,000 ounces.
As of 30 December 2023, Great Boulder had $4.951 million cash and cash equivalents at hand, according to its latest quarterly report.
Write to Adam Drought at Mining.com.au
Images: Great Boulder Resources
