Australian exploration company Pacgold (ASX:PGO) has confirmed an additional ‘major’ gold system through induced polarisation (IP) geophysics data and drilling at the Southern Target, located within the Alice River Gold Project in Queensland.
The company reports IP geophysics completed in Q4 2022 has extended the resistivity low corridor at the Southern Target an additional 2km to the southeast, now defining a target which extends for over 3.8km.
Historical drilling over the northern half of the resistivity low has defined several shallow coherent gold zones at the Southern Target which are interpreted to represent the upper haloes above potential ‘high-grade’ shoots which occur in a similar geological and structural setting to the shoots discovered on the Central Target.
The company says the IP survey results provide ‘enormous’ potential to expand the Southern Target which is already recognised as the largest shallow gold system on the Alice River project.
Pacgold also reports diamond drilling (DD) was completed on the Southern Target in Q4 2022, with 2 holes completed for 407m. The results provide ‘strong encouragement’ for defining a second ‘high-grade’ gold system on the project south of the Central Target.
Commenting on the results, Pacgold Managing Director Tony Schreck says: “We are thrilled by the success of the latest IP geophysics survey in extending the IP resistivity low that is directly associated with the large-scale Southern Target gold system a further 2km to the southeast, doubling the potential strike of the system.
In a regional sense, the large southern strike extent of the IP resistivity low corridor, now extending over 3.8km, represents one of the most compelling and underexplored targets on the Alice River Gold Project.
“In a regional sense, the large southern strike extent of the IP resistivity low corridor, now extending over 3.8km, represents one of the most compelling and underexplored targets on the Alice River Gold Project”
Two initial shallow diamond drillholes completed by Pacgold confirm strong geochemical correlations between the Central Target and the Southern Target, particularly the potential of the high-grade zones to develop over 100m below surface, a model that has underpinned Pacgold’s discovery success over the past 18 months.
Remarkably, the Southern Target has been overlooked by modern exploration with Pacgold’s drilling the first to be undertaken in 30 years. This represents a significant opportunity to apply the successful exploration model and strategy that has been implemented at the Central Target to the Southern Target.”
Pacgold reports the results found at the Southern Target support the gold system’s potential to be ‘significantly’ larger. Drilling is planned for Q2 2023 to target the gold system at the Southern Target at depths greater than 100m. An additional IP geophysics survey is also planned to continue to map the Alice River fault zone further south.
Pacgold is an ASX-listed minerals exploration company focused on the Alice River Gold Project, located at the northern end of the Northeast Queensland Mineral Province.
Images: Pacgold Ltd