Carawine Resources Limited (ASX: CWX) announced that the first results from RC drilling at its Hercules prospect within its Tropicana North Project in WA returned multiple record high-grade intersections with mineralisation open along strike and at depth, confirming Hercules as a significant gold discovery.
The company said that two new high-grade gold lodes were discovered parallel to the main zone in drill hole TNRC008. CWX reported a combined interval of 37m @ 5.58g/t Au from 84m across three lodes (TNRC008).
The company also reported additional high-grade gold intersections extend mineralisation along strike and at depth. Carawine said that mineralisation remains open at depth and along strike to the northeast and southwest.
The company reported that additional assay results from completed RC and air core drilling are expected in the coming weeks. Carawine said that its highest priority now is to secure drill rigs and commence follow-up drilling.
Drilling at Hercules
The company had completed its maiden air core and RC drilling campaign at the Hercules prospect in January 2021. Hercules is an advanced gold prospect within Carawine’s Thunderstruck Joint Venture ( Carawine 90% interest), which forms part of the Company’s large Tropicana North Project located in the north-eastern goldfields of Western Australia.
The RC holes were designed to test the tenor and orientation of historically reported gold mineralisation and explore for extensions along strike and at depth at the Hercules prospect.
CWX has now reported the results from the first eleven of twelve RC holes – TNRC001 to TNRC010 and TNRC019.
High-grade results from Hercules
Carawine announced that the initial RC results show the potential for Hercules to become established as a major new high-grade gold deposit.
The company said that the results to date define a sub-vertical mineralised structure, or lode, which extends for 260m along strike, from the base of transported cover at 35m below surface to more than 140m below surface.
CWX said that two new high-grade gold lodes were discovered parallel to the main zone in drill hole TNRC008. The company reported a combined interval of 37m @ 5.58g/t Au from 84m across three lodes (TNRC008) – 4m @ 25.9g/t Au from 84m, including 3m @ 34.2g/t Au from 84m (main zone); 3m @ 22.2g/t Au from 101m, including 2m @ 33.0g/t Au from 101m; and 3m @ 10.6g/t Au from 118m, including 2m @ 15.6g/t Au from 118m.
The company said that the new parallel lodes in drill hole TNRC008 define a much wider, “blown-out” zone of mineralisation just 70m from surface.
CWX said that additional high-grade gold intersections extend mineralisation along strike and at depth. This included 3m @ 15.2g/t Au from 125m, including 2m @ 22.4g/t Au from 125m (TNRC001); 3m @ 15.4g/t Au from 111m, including 2m @ 22.7g/t Au from 111m (TNRC006); 5m @ 10.0g/t Au from 86m (TNRC009)2; and 5m @ 13.1g/t Au from 207m, including 3m @ 21.5g/t Au from 208m (TNRC010).
The company said that mineralisation remains open at depth and along strike to the northeast and southwest.
Next steps
Carawine said that reporting of additional assay results from the last RC hole drilled at Hercules in the program (drill hole TNRC020), along with 8 RC holes drilled at the Atlantis prospect and 80 AC holes drilled within the Neale (E38/3244) and Don King (E39/1845) tenements is expected over coming weeks.
CWX said that a program of follow-up drilling, which may include RC and/or diamond drilling will be designed with a focus on extending mineralisation to the northeast and southwest where it appears the strike length of the mineralisation is increasing with depth.
The company said that the first phase of diamond drilling at the Company’s 100%-owned Jamieson Project in northeast Victoria was completed recently. CWX said that reporting of assay results from drill holes H8DD023 to H8DD025, drilled at and south of the Hill 800 prospect is expected over the next one to two weeks.
Management comments
Carawine Managing Director David Boyd said: “These exceptional first results from our maiden drilling program at Tropicana North are highly significant. Multiple high-grade intersections have been returned which extend the existing mineralisation with improved grade continuity between drill holes, as well as uncovering additional parallel high-grade lodes. This gives us high confidence that Hercules could develop into a major new gold deposit.
This is a tremendous start for Tropicana North, where we have an experienced, successful exploration team and an extensive ground position in a Tier-1 gold province. We look forward to the exploration program at Tropicana North increasing in intensity over the coming weeks and months as we mobilise to follow-up the results reported today as soon as possible.”
*Image source: Carawine Resources Limited