Navarre Minerals (ASX:NML) reports further ‘high-grade’ gold, silver and copper results have been returned from resource definition and exploration drilling on 3 satellite deposits within the Mt Carlton Project in Queensland.
The company says these results are from 3 satellite mineral deposits located within 32km of the Mt Carlton processing facility, the Mt Carlton United (MCU) deposit and the BV7 and Delta deposits at Crush Creek, and these results continue to reinforce the shallow, ‘high-grade’ nature of these deposits and to highlight the prospectivity of the broader Mt Carlton project area supporting the company’s goal of growing the mineral inventory and extending mine life.
Navarre drilled an additional 58 reverse circulation (RC) holes for 2,361m since September and drilling in support of open pit mining recently approved by the Queensland Government, and the latest results from BV7 and Delta cover an additional 19 diamond core holes and 17 RC holes for 4,781.8m of drilling and represent the final assays for all drilling completion at Crush Creek during this season’s program.
“Our work continues to demonstrate the project development opportunities present within the broader Mt Carlton project area”
Navarre Managing Director Ian Holland said it’s great to see consistently strong results being generated from the company’s investment in drilling at Mt Carlton, including several high-grade gold, silver and copper intercepts from the MCU and BV7 deposits.
“Our work continues to demonstrate the project development opportunities present within the broader Mt Carlton project area, which now includes 5 potential satellite gold, silver ± copper deposits to supplement existing production from the V2 open pit.
These satellite deposits are strategically located within short trucking distances of our 960,000tpa processing facility.
In the meantime, drilling continues on the Mt Carlton mine lease, focused on further opportunities to grow our mineral resource inventory, particularly in support of our newly approved open pit mine at MCU.”
Navarre describes the MCU as an intermediate sulphidation epithermal gold, silver and copper mineralised system with the deposit extending in an east-west orientation for over a kilometre, and comprises of two mineralised zones identified as MCU West and MCU East separated and offset by a post-mineralisation northwest striking fault.
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.
The company says the drilling which includes some ‘standout high-grade’ intercepts has confirmed and upgraded several areas of shallow, ‘high-grade’ gold, silver and copper mineralisation on the margins of the mineral resource pit shells, and additional drilling along strike of MCU East has confirmed mineralisation extends more than 120m east of the mineral resource pit shell.
This extension, as well as new target areas identified through reconnaissance mapping and rock chip sampling immediately north and south of MCU are undergoing follow-up drilling to define the lateral extents to the mineralisation.
Significant intercepts recorded by Navarre at MCU includes 25m @ 6.3g/t Au, 28.8g/t Ag and 0.1% Cu from 3m including 4m @ 9.4g/t Au, 35.6g/t Ag and 0.1% Cu from 3m and 5m @ 17/1g/t Au, 61.4g/t Ag and 0.1% Cu in MC22RC325.
Drillhole MC22RC346 intercepted 12m @ 8.1g/t Au and 41g/t Ag from 1m including 1m @ 77.4g/t Au and 204g/t Ag from 1m, and hole MC22RC345 intersected 13m @ 4.1g/t Au and 63.4g/t Ag from 7m including 3m @ 14.3g/t Au and 184.4g/t Ag from 8m.
Hole MC22RC340 came across 12m @ 3.3g/t Au and 242g/t Ag from 2m including 6m @ 5.1g/t Au and 399.7g/t Ag from 5m, and drillhole MC22RC341 intercepted 13m @ 2.3% Cu, 0.5g/t Au and 109.1g/t Ag from 3m.
Navarre reports the Crush Creek Gold project hosts low sulphidation gold mineralisation which has potential to provide mine life extensions at Mt Carlton, and the 2022 drilling campaign has focused on improving the definition of the inferred areas of the Mineral Resource defined at the BV7 and Delta deposits, as well as confirming shallow continuous gold and silver mineralisation in historical drilling to underpin a maiden mineral resource for the BV1 prospect.
Drilling results for BV1 includes 22.7m @ 22.7g/t Au and 28.5g/t Ag, and this confirmatory drilling resulted in the declaration of a maiden interred mineral resource for BV1 of 425,000 tonnes @ 2.8g/t Au for 40,000oz to complement the existing resources at Delta and BV7.
Navarre says the BV7 drilling program consisted of 12 diamond core and 6 RC holes for 2,655.3m of drilling focused within the interpreted mineralised boundaries of the main BV7 quartz vein and associated stockworks, and due to the topography of the area, the drilling was completed from a small number of drilling sites with the orientations adjusted to achieve a nominal drill spacing through the main vein of around 20m.
The company reports all assays have been received and are currently being interpreted and geologically modelled in preparation for a resource estimation, and this drilling has confirmed the plunge and extents of the ‘high-grade’ shoots within the main vein including a highlight intercept of 15m @ 11.4g/t Au in hole B722DD027.
Navarre also notes drilling into several small, ‘high-grade’ veins located on the hanging wall side of the main vein has increased confidence in the tenor and continuity of the subsidiary structures, and has also provided an increased level of confidence in the geological and grade continuity of the steeply southwest dipping, northwest striking mineralisation.
Significant results recorded at BV7 include 15m @ 11.4g/t Au nd 7.7g/t Ag from 77m including 8.6g/t Au and 12.6g/t Ag from 80.4m in B722DD027, 4m @ 9.8g/t Au and 3.1g/t Ag from 77m in B722DD010, 7m @ 6.5g/t Au and 5g/t Ag from 107m in BV7G005.
The company also reports 4m @ 4.9g/t Au and 4.5g/t Ag from 113m in B722DD004, 1m @ 20.3g/t Au and 0.5g/t Ag from 54m in B722DD016 and 2m @ 9.1g/t Au and 11g/t Ag from 10m B722DD014.
Navarre reports drilling at Delta comprised 7 diamond core and 11 RC holes for 2,165.5m of drilling focussed within the interpreted boundaries of mineralisation, and all assays have been received and are currently being interpreted and geologically modelled in preparation for an update to the existing mineral resource estimate (MRE).
It also notes the drilling has confirmed the lithological and structural controls on the mineralisation which will increase the level of confidence in the interpretation of the mineralisation leading into a Delta mineral resources update.
Navarre Minerals is a gold, silver and copper producer with a core mission to develop and operate large, ‘high-grade’ and long life mineral deposits.
Its assets included the Mt Carlton, Stawell Corridor Gold, St Arnaud Gold, Jubilee Gold, Tandarra Gold and Western Victoria Gold Projects.
Images: Navarre Minerals Limited
