Musgrave Minerals Ltd (ASX: MGV) has announced a highly encouraging update from the drilling at the Break of Day deposit within its Cue Gold Project in Western Australia.
The company reported that the first follow-up RC drill hole confirms the position of the high-grade link-lode at Break of Day. Significant hits include 6m @ 51.7g/t Au from 228m down hole(20MORC001).
MGV announced that the drilling through the Twilight Lode in previously untested positions, and outside the existing resource, intersected 6m @ 81.7g/t Au from 72m down hole (20MORC001); 2m @ 7.8g/t Au from 61m (20MORC002), and 18m @ 3.0g/t Au from 18m (20MORC004).
The company said that the link-lode remains open in all directions, with assays awaited from a further eight holes from the current drill program.
MGV reported that additional follow-up RC and diamond drilling of the new link-lode at Break of Day is currently being planned and will commence in April. The company said that a resource update incorporating the new link-lode at Break of Day will be scheduled for early Q3 following further drilling.
Cue project
Musgrave’s flagship Cue Project is located in the Murchison district of Western Australia. The project consists of the Moyagee Gold and Hollandaire Copper areas in the highly prospective Murchison province of Western Australia.
Important areas of Cue project include Break of Day prospect, Lena gold resources, Mainland, and thenew Lake Austin North gold discovery. The Lena deposit is located approximately 130m west of Break of Day.
The Cue Gold Project hosts total resources of 6.45Mt @ 3.0g/t Au for 613koz that includes Break of Day and Lena located 130m to the west.
Break of Day
The Break of Day resource estimate is based on two sub-parallel quartz vein lodes (Twilight and Velvet) striking approximately 30 degrees which remain open at depth and to the south.
Some of the recent drilling had intersected 3m @ 7.2g/t Au from 128m (19MORC031) and 3m @ 13.9g/t Au from 53m (19MORC017) at the southern end of Break of Day and outside the current resource boundary.
The discovery of the new link-lode in drill hole 19MORC037 (45m @ 11.8g/t Au) at Break of Day also enhanced the probability of growing the resource through further drilling.
The link-lode is interpreted to strike at 290 degrees and dip steeply to the south. The strike extent of the lode is not yet defined and remains open to the west, east and down dip.
RC drill program at Break of Day
The company had commenced an RC drill program at Break of Day prospect, which consisted of 13 holes for 2,490m.
MGV has now reported the assays for the first five holes, 20MORC001, 20MORC002, 20MORC003, 20MORC004, and 20MORC005. The assay results for the remaining eight holes expected within the next three weeks.
High-grade assay results
The company has now reported high-grade assay results from the first 5 RC drill holes. Holes 20MORC005 and 20MORC003 did not give encouraging results, but the drill holes 20MORC001, 20MORC002, and 20MORC004 reported high-grade assays.
Hole 20MORC001
Musgrave reported that the first follow-up drill hole in the recent program (20MORC001) intersected the Twilight lode at 72m down hole and returned 6m @ 81.7g/t Au (6m composite sample). Significantly, this intersection sits outside the current resource boundary.
The drill hole then intersected the link-lode returning 4m @ 2.9g/t Au from 189m and 6m @ 51.7g/t Au (6m composite sample) from 222m down hole.
The company said that one metre samples have been re-submitted for individual analysis where 6m composite assays are greater than 0.1g/t Au.
Hole 20MORC002, 20MORC004
The company reported that drill hole 20MORC002 intersected the Velvet lode and 20MORC004 intersected the Twilight lode, both outside the currently defined resource.
Hole 20MORC002 returned 2m @ 7.8g/t Au from 61m, while hole 20MORC004 returned 18m @ 3.0g/t Au from 18m.
Musgrave said that both holes deviated below the planned target depth and failed to reach the link-lode target. These holes will now be used as pre-collars for future diamond drill hole extensions to test the link-lode at depth.
No significant assays from 20MORC003 and 20MORC005
The company said that drill hole 20MORC005 was drilled at the northern end of Break of Day to test for a second link-lode but did not return any significant assays. Assays are pending for a second hole completed in this area.
Musgrave said that drill hole 20MORC003 was drilled from the east to test an alternate hypothesis and did not intersect any significant mineralisation thus supporting the link-lode interpretation.
Encouraging outlook for Cue project
The company said that the positive results at Break of Day confirm the geological interpretation and the link-lode remains open in all directions as the east, west and down dip limits of the lode have not yet been defined.
The company said that the identification of the high-grade ‘link-lode’ structure is significant as it has the potential to add high-grade gold ounces to the resource without the requirement to drill deeper on the deposit. It is possible that other linking structures may be present within the region which will open a large new search space for exploration.
Updates on other ongoing explorations
The company announced the updates on other ongoing exploration programs at Musgrave 100% tenements as well as Evolution JV.
Musgrave 100% tenements
The company said that the assay results from the eight remaining RC drill holes at Break of Day testing the new ‘link-lode’ position are expected in late March 2020.
Musgrave reported that six follow-up RC drill holes were completed at the new high-grade gold discovery at the Consols prospect, within the Mainland area with first assays expected in mid-March 2020.
The company said that the follow-up drilling at Break of Day on the new link-lode will resume in April which if successful will lead to a resource update in Q3, 2020
Evolution JV
The company said that the assay results from the initial diamond drilling program at Lake Austin North are expected in late March 2020.
Musgrave reported that the regional aircore drilling program on Lake Austin is progressing well with first assays expected in April 2020. Results will be batched and reported on a target area basis.
Next steps
Musgrave reported that the assay results for the remaining eight RC drill holes in the program at Break of Day are expected in late March. MGV said that a further program of follow-up RC and diamond drilling is being planned to commence in April 2020.
Musgrave also said that a resource update for Break of Day is scheduled post the conclusion of this follow-up drilling program in early Q3 2020.
The company said that a range of exploration techniques will be considered to progress exploration including additional surface sampling and drilling.
Management comments
Musgrave Managing Director Rob Waugh said: “This is a fantastic result and confirms the discovery of the high-grade link-lode at Break of Day. It also extends the Twilight lode and with further drilling we are confident we can significantly grow the high-grade Break of Day resource.
This discovery also verifies a new target model for future drilling to test for additional discoveries in the region. We have yet to define the limits of this new link-lode and there are opportunities to find others in the Break of Day-Lena area.”