Greenstone Resources (ASX:GSR) has confirmed ‘exceptional’ gold grades of up to 99.35g/t gold (Au) from a phase one reverse circulation (RC) drilling program at its flagship Burbanks Gold Project in Western Australia.
The results, generated by a 10,000m RC drill campaign, continue to reaffirm the ‘high-grade’ and continuous nature of the project and remain outside of the existing JORC 2012 Mineral Resource Estimate (MRE).
The company says the results also demonstrate the presence of multiple ‘high-grade’ parallel structures serving to reaffirm the potential for further resource growth outside of the exploration target adjacent to both the current JORC 2012 MRE and exploration target.
Greenstone notes key results include hole BBRC416D, with 5m @ 21.04g/t Au from 295m including 0.79m @ 99.35g/t Au from 295.86m; and hole KHRC012D, with 12m @ 6.07g/t Au from 100m including 1m @ 51.70g/t Au from 110m.
Drilling was designed to target unclassified mineralisation outside of the existing resource, which also serves to define the recent JORC 2012 exploration target range of 3.3-3.6Mt @ 2.0–2.8g/t Au for 215,000-330,000 ounces of contained gold. This current phase of drilling was undertaken as part of a 3-phase program seeking to test the true geological potential of the project across its 5.5km strike of the Burbanks Shear Zone.
With phase one drilling now complete and the resource update underway, Greenstone Resources announces it will shift its focus towards the phase two drill campaign, which will include up to 15,000m of diamond and RC drilling targeting down dip and along strike extensions to the known ‘high-grade’ lodes.
This current campaign will also seek to follow up on several ‘high-grade’ drill intercepts announced in late 2022 that extended the known mineralised strike horizon a further 1km to the north.
Addressing the results, Greenstone Resources Chief Executive Officer (CEO) and Managing Director Chris Hansen says: “The phase one drill campaign has continued to exceed our expectations, serving to confirm the continuity of mineralisation outside of the existing mineral resource as well as identifying multiple high-grade parallel structures.
Following the recent completion of the phase one campaign, we are very excited to take stock of these results as part of the resource update, which is currently underway and expected for release in early June. With phase two already underway, targeting the down-dip extensions of known high-grade lodes, we are looking forward to testing the broader mineralised strike horizon of the Burbanks Shear Zone over the coming months.
The high-grade nature of Burbanks should not be understated, as over the past ten years since 2012, the average open pit grade has declined 16% to 1.29g/t Au, whereas Burbanks has subsequently joined an exclusive list of ASX-listed Australian gold projects with a resource grade >2.5g/t.
“The phase one drill campaign has continued to exceed our expectations…”
Unlike a number of other Australian gold projects, Burbanks is located in the epicentre of the Australian gold industry, surrounded by a network of existing infrastructure, including processing plants, grid power and sealed roads,serving to lower capital intensities and expedite our path to sustainable commercial production.
Outside of Burbanks, the updated scoping study for Mt Thirsty continues on schedule following the recent 146% increase in the Co-Ni-Mn resource. The joint venture partner at Mt Thirsty continues to work closely in relation to an ownership consolidation and initial public offering (IPO) of the Mt Thirsty project, principally aimed at providing our shareholders with a clear distinction between our base metal and precious metal projects.
With phase two drilling at Burbanks already underway, and drilling across our regional gold portfolio at Phillips Find and Phoenix scheduled to commence this month, as well as the pending metallurgical testwork underpinning the Mt Thirsty scoping study, we look forward to keeping shareholders updated on a regular basis.”
Greenstone Resources is an ASX-listed gold exploration and development company that owns the Burbanks Project in Western Australia. The project is located 9km south of the township of Coolgardie and is supported by a network of existing infrastructure including grid power, sealed roads, and several neighbouring toll treatment plants.
Burbanks also remains the only ‘high-grade’ resource greater than 250,000 ounces within 100km of Kalgoorlie that is not already in production.
Images: Greenstone Resources Limited
