This article is a sponsored feature from Mining.com.au partner Pacgold Limited. It is not financial advice. Talk to a registered financial expert before making investment decisions.
Having spent 2024 building out its portfolio of targets, junior gold explorer Pacgold’s (ASX:PGO) focus for this year is on drill testing the multiple high-priority prospects to better understand the potential scale of the Alice River project.
A regional aircore program undertaken at the Alice River Gold Project in North Queensland revealed the potential for a “very large bulk tonnage” gold system, with in excess of 12km of high-priority geochemical anomaly targets defined.
The Alice River Project has a footprint that extends over 30km in strike, and so far Pacgold has only drill-tested less than 5% of that total distance.
The project covers the site of a past gold mining operation that historically produced 30,000 ounces of gold at 5.5 grams per tonne, with multiple small artisanal workings located at the project along the Alice River fault structure confirming the presence of a large mineralised system.
The Southern target area and Jerry Dodds were also historically mined with very high grades of gold being excavated at what are very limited areas of outcrop.
In early December, Pacgold completed an aircore program of 7,185m of drilling across 749 holes along 14km of strike.
Not long after reporting the completion of that program, initial results showed Pacgold had uncovered multiple coherent high-grade gold-arsenic anomalies stretching from Posie in the north to Victoria in the south, with the anomalies and mineralisation remaining open at both ends of the system.
Unlocking an entire gold corridor
At the Central target, gold mineralisation has been found extending from surface down to 500m depth. Drilling previously returned intercepts including 24m @ 8g/t and 14.9m @ 10.3g/t.
The Southern target, meanwhile, could be a potential repeat of the Central target, with intercepts of 8m @ 55.9g/t. This area has seen limited exploration to date with drill program now being finalised to commence testing these areas and many additional targets along the Alice River fault during the 2025 field season.
Pacgold is planning to undertake a 10,000m reverse circulation program, follow up on retesting regional targets with an expanded aircore program and start a +3,000m diamond drill program.
The diamond drilling program will be key to helping understand the controls on mineralisation and assist the company in gaining a better understanding of the distribution of mineralisation at depth and the structural controls in place at Jerry Dodds, the Southern target and The Shadows.
Managing Director Matthew Boyes told Mining.com.au late last year that he wants to see at least 20,000m of drilling go into Alice River in 2025.
“If we can achieve that it would be a great milestone, Alice River is an asset that will only be understood with a lot of drilling,” Boyes said.
“To give you an idea of scale, the Southern target and Jerry Dodds area have a strike extent of 4km — that’s larger than the area covered by the Kalgoorlie Super Pit. There is a lot of space in there for a compelling discovery.”
To ready itself for a busy year of drilling, Pacgold recently appointed Bruce Kendall of Obsidian Geological Consultants as its geological consultant.
With over 30 years’ experience, Kendall has been managing mineral exploration from grass roots through to advanced brownfields projects, near-mine exploration, resource definition and feasibility studies.
He has also held corporate management roles with companies such as AngloGold Ashanti (NYSE:AU), Chalice Mining (ASX:CHN), IGO (ASX:IGO), and Jabiru Metals.
“Given the results we have received from Alice River, we are confident that we control a substantial mineralised system and Bruce’s knowledge will be invaluable as he assists our team as we progress over 2025 to unlock the value of this project,” Boyes says.
The aim of the aggressive drilling campaign will be to define a mineral resource estimate for the Central, Northern and Southern targets, while at the same time progressing the highly prospective regional targets.
Alice River comprises eight mining leases and five exploration permits, spanning an area of 377km2.
Prior to Pacgold’s acquisition of the Alice River Project in December 2020, there was little modern exploration undertaken.
“Large tonnage intrusive related gold systems like Alice River can become tier-one assets, and there has been limited exploration in this part of the world,” Boyes says.
“The Palmer River alluvial gold field produced millions of ounces of gold and nobody has found the source to date so that demonstrates the area is well endowed with gold mineralisation.”
Palmer River was the largest producing alluvial goldfield in Australia and is credited with being largely responsible for the growth of places like Cooktown, Port Douglas, and Cairns.
The region is home to several gold operations like the 1,883km2 Pajingo Gold Mine, which was discovered by Battle Mountain Gold Company in 1983 and has produced more than 3.4 million ounces since 1996.
Now owned by Yuxin Holdings, Pajingo currently produces around 80,000 ounces of gold per annum.
Also in the region is the 10-million-ounce Ravenswood Gold Operation, which includes the 1-million-ounce Mt Wright underground mine.
Alice River represents a potential new district-scale gold province in northern Queensland, with Pacgold the first explorer in two decades to drill the ground.
Pacgold expects to roll out consistent news flow in 2025 as it ramps up exploration at the project.
Write to Angela East at Mining.com.au
Images: Pacgold
