Matsa Resources Limited (ASX: MAT) has announced a highly encouraging update from the drilling program at its Red October gold mine in the Eastern Goldfields of Western Australia.
The company reported that it has returned multiple intersections of very high-grade gold from its recently completed 11 hole – 1,451m grade control drilling program at the Red October Gold Project
Outstanding gold intercepts for new zones include 2.50m @ 48.70g/t Au, and 2.55m @ 4.89g/t Au. Other impressive Red October Shear Zone (ROSZ) intercepts include 6.00m @ 2.21g/t Au, and 4.40m @ 3.30g/t Au.
MAT said that the results provide a compelling platform for the current mining phase and can positively affect mining outcomes.
The company said that new opportunities for future mining north of the existing initial mining phase have been discovered. Matsa also expressed confidence that the results of this programme strongly endorse the company’s belief that new high-grade gold mineralisation remains to be discovered.
Red October project
The Red October gold mine and project area covers 44km2 and consists of six granted Mining Leases (ML’s), an extensive well-maintained underground mine. It has a JORC 2012 compliant Mineral Resource of ~99,000 oz of gold, which includes 85,000 oz @ 13.6g/t Au.
The Red October mine is a structurally controlled gold deposit located in the Laverton Greenstone Belt (LGB) which hosts a number of world class and emerging gold mines.
The Red October gold mine has produced a total of 1.7Mt at 6.1g/t Au for 342,000 oz gold. The open pit operation contributed 113,000 oz gold at 6.5g/t Au between 1999 and 2002 and the underground operation has produced 1.2Mt at 5.9g/t Au for 229,000 oz gold to a depth of 550m vertical metres between 2012 and 2017.
Aim to increase gold resource
The company has currently planned a large campaign over the next 6 months aimed at significantly increasing the gold resource at the Red October underground gold mine.
A recent capital raising undertaken by the Company has allowed for planning to commence for a sizeable and comprehensive diamond drilling programme at Red October.
Diamond drill program at Red October
The company had recently commenced the first programme targeted the Red October Shear Zone (ROSZ) North. Matsa has currently completed 11 underground diamond drill holes (ROGC724 to ROGC734), for a total of 1,451 metres focussing on extensions in the main mining area (ROSZ North).
Matsa reported that the focus of the first eight holes (ROGC724- ROGC731) was to get a better understanding and potential for the high-grade shoots below the current workings and to test for additional high-grade shoots to the north. Meanwhile, a further three holes (ROGC732- ROGC734) were drilled selectively based on the results both visually and via assay results from the first eight holes.
Outstanding gold assays
The company reported that outstanding gold intercepts for new zones include 2.50m @ 48.70g/t Au from 78m inc 1.10m @ 105.5g/t Au from 78m (hole ROGC725); and 2.55m @ 4.89g/t Au from 93.2m inc 0.20m @ 37.80g/t Au from 94.1m (hole ROGC734).
Drilling targeted just south of the historic RC holes position yielded 4.40m @ 3.30g/t Au from 135.14m – ROSZ (hole ROGC730); and 6.00m @ 2.21g/t Au from 121.5m inc 1.70m @ 4.07g/t Au from 122m – ROSZ (hole ROGC731).
High-grade potential confirmed
The company announced that the drilling confirms the high-grade potential of the Red October gold mine. MAT reported that the discovery of new high-grade lodes which are not reflected in the June 2016 Resource model is significant.
The company said that the high-grade lodes indicate the strong potential for more ore-bearing structures to be discovered to the north by further drilling. MAT reported that these new lodes will be prioritised for further evaluation as new opportunities outside of the known lode system.
Matsa said that the assays indicate the confirmation that another high-grade shoot exists within the ROSZ, further to the north.
The company said that this new high-grade domain (ROSZ Costello) is a top priority in 2020 to extend a drill platform and infill to delineate for future mining.
Updates and next steps
The company said that further results are pending from 3 holes. Matsa announced that drilling would continue during 2020 on new mining targets within and outside of the existing resource.
Management statements
Matsa Executive Chairman Paul Poli commented: “We can again prove that substantial new mining opportunities remain at the Red October Gold Project. The results achieved by this drilling program are extremely exciting for the Company.
Our belief continues to be, that substantial gold zones remain undiscovered and abundant opportunities exist to develop a long term, highly rewarding, underground gold mining operation at Red October. This belief was the core reason we acquired Red October.
We will enthusiastically continue to grow and develop Red October and we expect many more exciting results.”
