Liontown Resources Limited (ASX: LTR) announced that the first Reverse Circulation hole (MRRC0001) drilled beneath previously reported shallow air-core and auger drilling within a large gold anomaly at its Moora Project in Western Australia returned outstanding high-grade assay results including 44m @ 1.6 g/t gold from 200 – 244m, including 20m @ 3.2g/t gold from 208 – 228m and 4m @ 10.1g/t gold from 220 – 224m.
The company said that the intersection is interpreted to be along strike and down-dip of a previously reported shallow air-core intercept. LTR said that the latest results indicate the potential for a +900m long zone of bedrock mineralisation at Angepena which remains open in all directions.
Liontown said that the assays are pending for a further 11 RC holes drilled recently to test beneath the northern copper-gold zone and for 145 in-fill and first-pass air-core holes.
Drilling at Moora
The company had commenced a maiden drilling program at Moora in December 2020 and the Company has now drilled 264 air-core holes for 10,349m and 14 follow-up RC holes for 1,946m. Liontown said that assays are pending for 145 air-core drill holes and 11 RC holes.
The air-core drilling was designed to provide initial bedrock data beneath gold+PGE+nickel+copper anomalies defined by auger sampling, while the RC drilling targeted beneath geochemical haloes in the weathered, oxidised profile, defined by the auger sampling and air-core drilling, that may be indicative of deeper, primary mineralisation in fresh bedrock.
Mt Yule magnetic anomaly
The Mt Yule magnetic anomaly is 7km long and up to 2.5km wide. Partial drill testing of the Mt Yule magnetic anomaly had defined a number of mineralised trends including a +2km long and up to 150m wide copper (>1,000ppm) – gold (>100ppb) northern zone with better intersections of 10m @ 1.9% copper and 12m @ 0.5g/t gold; and a south-eastern zone defined by a single drill traverse with drill intersections of up to 37m @ 0.25g/t gold and 12m @ 0.22% copper. This south-eastern zone is located 4km to the south-east of, and appears to be structurally aligned to, the Angepena prospect.
RC drilling at Angepena
Angepena is located within the south-western part of Mt Yule magnetic anomaly. LTR had commenced three wide-spaced RC holes drilled to test the newly-named Angepena Zone, where previous auger sampling and shallow air-core drilling had defined an anomalous WNW-ESE trending gold zone over a strike length of ~1km.
LTR said that results have been received for the first Reverse Circulation hole, MRRC0001 at Angepena.
High-grade assay results
The company announced that the RC hole MRRC0001 intersected a broad zone of bedrock gold mineralisation comprising 44m at 1.6g/t from 200m down-hole, including significantly higher-grade zones of 20m at 3.2g/t gold from 208m and 4m at 10.1g/t gold from 220m.
LTR said that the first deeper hole drilled at the project has confirmed the potential for significant bedrock gold mineralisation at the newly-named Angepena Zone.
The company said that the gold intersection in MRRC0001 is coincident with disseminated sulphides (predominantly pyrite) and a down-hole geophysical program is planned to gather rock-property data to determine whether a surface Induced Polarisation (IP) survey would be effective in defining potential bedrock mineralisation beneath the weathering profile.
The company said that further drilling is required to confirm the orientation and size of the mineralised zone; however, the result is considered to be highly significant and represents an important breakthrough in the exploration of the Moora Project.
Liontown said that potential ore grades and widths have now been intersected in two drill holes 300m apart and pathfinder geochemistry indicates that the zone may continue to the south-east for a strike length of 900m and remains open in all directions.
Next steps
The company said that further work would include processing of outstanding assays; downhole geophysics; planning of follow-up drill programs; and ongoing access negotiations with landowners.
LTR said that work is also well-advanced on planning a first-pass auger sampling program across prospective trends defined on the Koojan JV Project, including the northern extension of the Julimar Corridor. This work is expected to commence in mid-March 2021.
Management comments
Liontown Managing Director David Richards said: “. Intersecting a significant zone of high-grade, primary gold mineralisation in our very first RC hole is a very important development which validates our exploration approach.
It’s obviously still early days, but the data suggests the potential for a large mineralising system at Angepena that will require intensive drill testing. The fact that the shallow anomalism we have been seeing in auger and air-core drilling is directly related to primary bedrock mineralisation is a vital breakthrough that confirms that we have an emerging discovery opportunity at Moora.
We have a large amount of assay data still outstanding from RC and air-core drilling. We will wait to see what this information tells us before planning the next stage of exploration at this exciting project.”
*Image source: Liontown Resources Limited