Navarre Minerals (ASX:NML) reports further ‘outstanding high-grade’ gold, silver, and copper drilling intercepts at both the Mt Carlton United (MCU) and Telstra Hill (TH) deposits.
The company reports that the results from MCU and TH continue to reinforce the shallow, ‘high-grade’ nature of these deposits which highlights the outstanding prospectivity of the broader Mt Carlton project area and support Navarre’s strategic objective of growing the mineral inventory and extending mine-life.
The results disclosed in this announcement have not been previously reported and cover an additional 6 reverse circulation (RC) and 20 diamond core drill holes for 2,458 metres of drilling completed across MCU and TH since the previous updates announced to the ASX on 25 July 2022 and 20 June 2022, respectively.
Navarre anticipates the drilling results in this report will inform an updated resource estimate for MCU and TH which is expected to be published in Q2 FY23, along with updated mineral resources for V2 (currently in production).
“These high-grade gold, silver and copper results from Mt Carlton United and Telstra Hill continue to demonstrate the project development opportunities”
Addressing the results, Navarre Managing Director Ian Holland said: “These high-grade gold, silver and copper results from Mt Carlton United and Telstra Hill continue to demonstrate the project development opportunities present on the current Mt Carlton mine lease, strategically located within four kilometres of our 960Ktpa processing facility.
It is pleasing that our ongoing investment in exploration and resource drilling is delivering on our strategy of defining new satellite mineral deposits within short trucking distance to the mine to complement production from the V2 open pit.
To date, we have delineated four satellite gold – silver + copper deposits at MCU, Telstra Hill, Delta and BV7. We can also see significant potential to expand our satellite mineral inventory, with exploration programs testing key targets across the Mt Carlton mining lease, Crush Creek and several of our regional prospects.”
The drilling program has involved one reverse circulation (RC) drilling rig and one diamond core drilling rig, with the aim of infilling and extending the known limits of the gold, silver and copper mineralised systems.
MCU is an intermediate sulphidation epithermal gold, silver + copper mineralised system, with the deposit extending in an east-west orientation for over a kilometre. The style of mineralisation has a similar characteristic to the producing V2 deposit with the mineralisation structurally controlled and hosted in the same rhyodacite volcanic unit.
A total of 17 resource definition and exploration diamond core drill holes for 1,864 metres of drilling have been completed at MCU since the previous reporting of drilling intercepts to the ASX on 27 July 2022.
The results received to date are currently being incorporated into an updated geological and mineralisation model in preparation for resource estimation.
The drilling has intersected shallow, high-grade gold, silver and copper confirming the strike extent of the mineralisation in the centre of the deposit outside of the existing Mineral Resource and Ore Reserve pit shells.
The company believes this drilling has the potential to upgrade and expand the existing Mineral Resource to build critical mass for a new high-grade gold development as potential satellite mill feed to the nearby Mt Carlton operation.
Navarre notes that ongoing exploration program has extended the eastern extents of the known mineralisation by up to 50 metres. These extensions will require follow-up infill and extension drilling to advance these prospects towards resource definition.
The central part of MCU is dominated by a series of closely spaced, moderate to steeply north dipping, gold, silver and copper mineralised lenses. Six resource definition diamond drillholes for a total of 433 metres of drilling were focused on expanding the gold-silver rich mineralisation in this area of the deposit.
The drilling has confirmed the geological and grade continuity of mineralisation underneath a hill, which mapping and rock chip sampling had identified as being potentially mineralised.
The ‘high-grade’ gold-silver-copper mineralisation returned in these drill holes indicates the potential to expand the pit designs in this area.
Write to Adam Orlando at Mining.com.au
Images: Navarre Minerals Ltd
