Impact Minerals’ (ASX:IPT) joint venture partner Kuniko (ASX:KNI) is commencing phase two diamond drilling at the Commonwealth-Silica Hill Gold-Silver Project in New South Wales.
A drill rig has been mobilised to site by contractor Titeline Drilling, with the initial program covering six holes over approximately 1,300m aiming to follow up on phase one results.
Phase two is targeting recent discoveries, including a ‘high-grade’ gold and silver zone at Silica Hill located about 100m outside the existing resource envelope.
The company notes this initial program is scalable up to a total of 14 holes spanning approximately 3,340m of drilling, subject to ongoing geological review and operational considerations.
Impact Minerals Managing Director Dr Michael Jones says the company is pleased to see Kuniko accelerating exploration drilling following phase one results.
“We have always believed Commonwealth and Silica Hill sit atop a much larger system, and this program will test that thesis,” Jones says.
“This validates our strategy of unlocking value in our exploration assets as we advance the Lake Hope High Purity Alumina [HPA] Project and our investment in the Alluminous HPA processing technology.”
Impact Minerals says phase one drilling intersected mineralisation in all six holes.
Key results from Silica Hill include 84m @ 2.6 grams per tonne gold equivalent (AuEq) from 226m, including 3.4m @ 50g/t AuEq; and 0.5m @ 347g/t AuEq.
At Commonwealth South, drilling intersected 7.1m @ 9.7g/t AuEq from 79.9m, including 3.1m @ 21.6g/t AuEq.
Intercepts at Commonwealth Main Shaft delivered 8m @ 8.6g/t AuEq from 94.7m, including 3.8m @ 17.4g/t AuEq.
Kuniko Managing Director Maja McGuire says phase one drilling confirmed the ‘fertility’ of the system.
“These results point to a large, fertile, and vertically extensive hydrothermal system with significant scale potential,” McGuire says.
Independent consultant Resource Potentials is finalising a regional targeting review to integrate historical geophysical datasets with geochemical and geological data in order to refine existing targets and identify new priority prospects across the broader project area.
Meanwhile, assay results from phase two drilling are expected in September, ahead of a planned mineral resource estimate upgrade targeted for December.
The Commonwealth-Silica Hill Project is located approximately 100km north of Orange within the Lachlan Fold Belt in Central New South Wales.
Under the terms of a binding earn-in and joint venture agreement over the project, Kuniko can earn up to 70% by funding $3 million in exploration over four years.
Impact Minerals retains a 30% free-carried interest to a decision to mine.
Impact Minerals is focused on discovering and developing strategic, battery, and precious metals projects across Australia.
Write to Paula Fabe at Mining.com.au
Images: Impact Minerals
