Kingwest Resources (ASX:KWR) plans to restart drilling at the Menzies Gold Project in Western Australia’s Menzies Shear Zone following the return of encouraging results from its December 2022 drilling program.
The company says the 1,000m infill reverse circulation (RC) drilling program will be conducted to improve the confidence in the previously announced upgrades to its mineral resource statements.
Drilling is also expected to allow conceptual targeting of parallel lodes similar to that seen at the adjacent Lady Shenton pit which encompasses the Lady Shenton, Falconer, and Big Babe lodes, which accounted for about 221,350 ounces of historical production from 1896 to 1999.
“These deposits are highly attractive for mining studies, with their near-surface and high grade nature”
Adding on, Kingwest notes the drilling will restart at the project’s Stirling and Pericles deposits, which represent near-surface gold deposits with a ‘high-grade’ core of 45,000 ounces at 5.2g/t
Commenting on the restarting of drilling, Kingwest Executive Chairman Greg Bittar said: “We are looking forward to recommencing drilling at the Menzies Gold Project with the continued focus on the Stirling and Pericles deposits. Following the shallow drilling completed late last year, we will be using a drill rig more capable of chasing lodes a little deeper in order to test for higher grade material.
These deposits are highly attractive for mining studies, with their near-surface and high grade nature particularly appealing for potential processing at the Brightstar Gold Plant located 30km south of Laverton and wholly owned by Brightstar Resources Ltd.”
The company also notes both the Pericles and Stirling deposits Mineral Resource Estimates (MREs) include about 52% of inferred material located within 125m of the surface, which requires infill drilling to improve confidence in lode geometry and gold grades.
It is reported mineralisation encountered within both deposits remains open at depth and will require follow-up drilling to target resource extensions to the known mineralisation.
In addition, Kingwest reports work streams have commenced in conjunction with a planned merger with Brightstar Resources (ASX:BTR); including the technical studies on future mining opportunities at Menzies.
Kingwest Resources is an ASX-listed mining and exploration company focused on advancing its gold projects into production, as well as discovering new gold resources in its ‘highly prospective’ projects situated in the Eastern Goldfields region of Western Australia.
The company’s Menzies project represents one of Western Australia’s ‘major’ historic gold fields, and is located 130km north of the ‘globally significant’ gold deposits of Kalgoorlie and within 200km of the Brightstar Processing Plant.
The project is host to numerous structurally controlled ‘high-grade’ gold deposits that have been mined and display ‘extensive’ exploration potential for ‘high-grade’ extensions. Historical production from the project has totalled 787,200oz @ 18.9g/t Au.
Images: Kingwest Resources Ltd
