Matsa Resources (ASX:MAT) has received exploration drilling results from works at the Lake Carey Gold Project in Western Australia’s Eastern Goldfields.
Between April and June 2022, Matsa completed 2 diamond drill holes for 572m at Fortitude North and FF1 and 45 aircore drill holes for 3,627m at Haul Road, Wilga West, FF1 and Phantom Well.
Eight diamond holes for 839m were also completed at Devon however the results of this drilling are not yet available.
At Fortitude North, drillhole 22FNDD009 was completed with assay results returning a broader mineralised envelope of 9.6m @ 3.27g/t Au from 120.8m including a higher grade zone of 2.1m @ 7.76g/t Au from 121.65m (using 1 g/t cutoff).
A 15.9m zone of fine-grained albite silica alteration hydraulic fracturing quartz veining and disseminated sulphides, was intersected between 119m and 134.9m.
Matsa reports this hole was completed to test the down-dip continuity of the mineralised intersection in previous diamond drill hole 19FNDD001, which intersected 8m @ 2.94g/t Au from 106.25m2 including a higher grade zone of 2.75m @ 5.24g/t Au from 107.25m.
Conclusions from the drilling results and recent logging, suggest a ‘high-grade’ shoot resides in the hanging wall position within the broader lode and mineralised system
Conclusions from the drilling results and recent logging, suggest a ‘high-grade’ shoot resides in the hanging wall position within the broader lode and mineralised system.
Importantly, the company notes, the data suggests that grades appear to increase with depth as demonstrated by 2.75m @ 5.24g/t at 107.25m (19FNDD001) and 2.1m @ 7.76g/t at 121.65m (22FNDD009).
This trend is not an uncommon feature of structurally complex narrow vein gold settings, Matsa reported.
Commenting on the works, Matsa Executive Chairman Paul Poli said: “Over the last few months, we have been busy at our Lake Carey Gold Project completing a number of ground magnetic and soil geochem surveys in support of exploration drilling which also commenced during the quarter.
The aircore drilling completed to date has already identified new gold in basement anomalism at Phantom Well and Wilga West that adds to our exploration pipeline.
With a focus on developing the area near the Fortitude Gold mine, I’m particularly pleased to say we have recommenced drilling at Fortitude North.
As a result of the reinterpretation of the Fortitude North mineralising and grade shoot geometry model, we have planned a staged diamond drilling program starting with a hole completed down dip of the northern most high grade intercept to target an interpreted high grade shoot.
We are thrilled that the drilling has confirmed the existence of a higher grade shoot, so follow-on drilling will be undertaken.
Notably, the results of this drilling returned a thicker, higher-grade intercept in comparison to previous drilling in that part of Fortitude North. What I really like about this intercept is that it has returned 36% more gold than the previous drill hole.
What also bodes well for this prospect is that these results demonstrate that grades appear to increase as the exploration gets deeper.”
The company notes that as it develops and improves its geological understanding of the Fortitude North prospect, these types of results give it ‘high confidence’ to deliver another Fortitude Gold Mine type resource of between 400,000 and 600,000oz in the not too distant future.
Meanwhile, the FF1 prospect is defined by a large gold in basement anomaly situated over a magnetic high along the Fortitude Fault and is located approximately 1km north of Fortitude North and 6km to the northwest of Fortitude Gold Mine. Past aircore drilling has defined a wide (200 – 300m) basement anomaly, however there is no drilling to any significant depth to provide sufficient geological information to interpret the geological context of the identified gold anomalism.
A maiden diamond drill hole (22FFDD001) was drilled to evaluate the basement gold intercept below aircore refusal identified in Matsa’s 2020 aircore drilling. The lithologies intersected include strongly sheared and variably altered dolerite and basalt with distinct zones of chlorite carbonate veining.
Logging has identified a number of zones of alteration typically associated with gold mineralisation.
Assay results have returned anomalous gold grades including:
- 10m @ 0.83 g/t Au from 123m, incl 3m @ 1.43g/t from 123m and;
- 1.0m @ 6.57 g/t Au from 148m
The company reports that the geometrical relationship between the gold anomalism identified in the aircore drilling and the deeper gold anomalism identified in the diamond drill core is not yet clear.
Images: Matsa Resources Limited
