Nexus Minerals Limited (ASX: NXM) announced that outstanding high-grade assay results including 9m @ 6.68g/t Au – Incl. 1m @ 42.59g/t Au were reported from the RC drilling at the Crusader Prospect within the Company’s Wallbrook gold project in Western Australia.
The company said that deeper drilling beneath existing Crusader resource intersected broad mineralised zone with high grade core that now continuously extends to depths greater than 150m and remains open over 700m strike.
The company said that all 11 RC holes drilled intersected significant mineralisation. New intersections include 9m @ 6.68g/t Au – Incl. 1m @ 42.59g/t Au (within 22m @ 2.97g/t Au from 96m); 8m @ 5.27g/t Au – Incl. 1m @ 28.6g/t Au (within 17m @ 2.57g/t Au from 46m); and 8m @ 2.97g/t Au – Incl. 1m @ 8.81g/t Au (within 15m @ 1.99g/t Au from 138m).
NXM said that the drill program successfully tested zone from 100m to 150m depth with mineralisation remaining open at depth and along strike.
Wallbrook gold project
The Wallbrook Gold Project is located in the eastern goldfields of Western Australia. The Wallbrook tenement package covers 250km2 and is an amalgamation of tenements acquired from Newmont and Saracen Minerals in 2018.
The Wallbrook Gold Project is considered underexplored and highly prospective for the discovery of significant gold mineralisation. Drilling recently completed by Nexus in the March 2019 quarter and drilling completed by Nexus in 2018 had demonstrated this prospectivity.
Gold mineralisation was identified and mined historically in a belt stretching from the Porphyry mining district to the Wallbrook area 8km to the southeast. Over 350,000 ounces of gold have been produced from multiple operations from 1921 to 2012
Significant prospects within the Wallbrook project include the Templar, Branches, Golden Dyke, and Crusader prospects.
The Crusader resource model was prepared after the completion of a 40 hole (4,626m) reverse circulation drilling program by Nexus. The resource model also included 45 reverse circulation holes (4,951m) and 1 diamond drill hole (159m) drilled by previous operators.
The JORC 2012 MRE for Crusader prospect is as below.
Gold mineralisation at Crusader Prospect is closely associated with a quartz-goethite supergene stockwork in the oxide regolith profile. The stockwork intensity correlates closely with higher gold grades. In the fresh rock, high-grade mineralisation occurs within a series of steeply dipping structures defined by quartz sulphide veining within a potassic altered volcaniclastic host rock.
Drilling at Crusader prospect
The company had recently undertaken drilling at the Crusader prospect, on tenement M31/231, M31/191, and M31/188.
NXM has now announced outstanding high-grade assay results from 11 RC holes (1,978m) drilled at the Crusader Prospect. The company said that the holes drilled were to test the zone from 100 to 150m below surface. Nexus reported that every RC drill hole in this program intersected mineralisation and encouragingly the gold mineralisation tenor and width both increased with depth.
High-grade intercepts
Nexus Minerals reported that all 11 RC holes drilled intersected significant mineralisation. NXM said that the deeper drilling beneath existing Crusader resource intersected broad mineralised zone with high grade core that now continuously extends to depths greater than 150m and remains open over 700m strike.
New intersections include 9m @ 6.68g/t Au – Incl. 1m @ 42.59g/t Au (within 22m @ 2.97g/t Au from 96m); 8m @ 5.27g/t Au – Incl. 1m @ 28.6g/t Au (within 17m @ 2.57g/t Au from 46m); 6m @ 3.48g/t Au – Incl. 2m @ 6.82g/t Au (within 14m @ 1.62g/t Au from 138m); 6m @ 6.74g/t Au – Incl. 2m @ 16.41g/t Au (within 12m @ 3.61g/t Au from 138m to EOH); 5m @ 5.01g/t Au – Incl. 1m @ 15.43g/t Au (within 11m @ 3.44g/t Au from 141m); 4m @ 7.17g/t Au – Incl. 1m @ 14.80g/t Au (within 15m @ 2.11g/t Au from 135m); and 8m @ 2.97g/t Au – Incl. 1m @ 8.81g/t Au (within 15m @ 1.99g/t Au from 138m).
The company said that the drill program successfully tested zone from 100m to 150m depth with mineralisation remaining open at depth and along strike.
Encouraging results from Golden Dyke prospect
Nexus reported that it also received results from the recently completed 13-hole (1,325m) RC program at the Golden Dyke prospect. Significant results included 17m @ 2.65g/t Au (from 22m) and 8m @ 4.7g/t Au (from 61m).
The company said that this drilling program was designed to follow up Nexus’ RC hole completed in 2018 which intersected 3m @ 19.36g/t Au.
NXM said that the results were positive in shallow holes where significant mineralisation was encountered; however, mineralisation was not intersected in the deeper holes therefore limiting large scale mineral system potential.
Next steps
NXM said that post full assessment of recent drill results and integration with existing data sets, future work programs may include Aircore drilling and/or RC/Diamond drilling to follow up on the results received from this drill program.
The company said that future drill programs at Crusader will test for depth extensions to the mineralisation which has been drilled to a maximum 200m depth (remains open at depth), as well as testing for further strike extensions to the Crusader – Templar mineralised corridor that currently extends over 1.6km of strike, constrained only by the extent of drilling completed by Nexus to date.
Management comments
Nexus Managing Director Andy Tudor said: “These follow up results from Crusader have intersected broad and high-grade gold intercepts showing continuity of mineralisation over greater than 700m strike which remains open in all directions, and importantly at depth. The Crusader- Templar mineralised system now extends over some 1600m of strike.
This is rapidly growing into an exciting new mineralised corridor, with potential to establish a significant mineral resource. Further RC and diamond drilling will be planned to follow up on the results received in this program”