Rox Resources Limited (ASX: RXL) in conjunction with its JV partner Venus Metals Corporation Limited (ASX: VMC) has announced high-grade intercepts including 13m @ 60.49g/t Au from 177m from the exploration activities at Youanmi in the OYG JV area (Rox 70% and Manager) in Western Australia.
The company reported that new, very high-grade results encountered at Grace extended the strike length of mineralised envelope to 700m.
RXL said that the best intercepts include 13m @ 60.49g/t Au from 177m, including 4m @ 191.56g/t Au from 181m.
The company said that the drilling at the Youanmi Gold Project has continued to deliver impressive gold grades with other highlights including 4m @ 18.53g/t Au from 88m (Grace); 3m @ 22.67g/t Au from 10m (Grace); 3m @ 10.26g/t Au from 107m (Grace North); and 3m @ 5.72g/t Au from 217m at EOH (Grace North).
The company said that Rox MD will host webinar to discuss results.
Youanmi gold project
The Youanmi gold project is located 480km to the northeast of the city of Perth, Western Australia. The project (OYG JV) is a Joint Venture with Venus Metals Corporation, managed by Rox Resources. The project is owned 50% by Youanmi Gold Mine with option to increase to 70%, and 50% earn-in by regional JV’s.
Youanmi straddles a 36km strike length of the Youanmi Greenstone Belt. The total JORC 2012 Compliant Resource for the Youanmi Gold Mine is now estimated as ~1.2 Million Ounces of Gold.
The structure of the Youanmi Project is dominated by the north-trending Youanmi Fault Zone. Most of the gold mineralisation seen at the project is hosted within north-northwest splays off the north-northeast trending Youanmi Fault.
The principal deposits of Youanmi include Youanmi Main, Hill End, United North, Kathleen, Rebel, and Kurrajong6. The Grace prospect is located in the OYG joint venture area within the Youanmi Gold Mine in Western Australia.
Drilling at Youanmi
The company had commenced an RC drill program in late May 2020 focussing on the Grace Prospect. The program is planned to consist of 126 holes for 16,000m of drilling.
The company said that the exploration is also focussed along the mineralised corridor within the Youanmi granite which extends for circa 1.5km to the north of historical mine infrastructure and totals around 2.5km strike length. RXL said that the ongoing drilling continues to build confidence in the scale and continuity of this recently discovered high-grade structural corridor.
The company has now announced the latest assays from the RC drill program at Grace, making it a total of 76 holes reported on until now.
High-grade intercepts from Grace
The company announced that high-grade assays were reported in this round of results from Grace discovery.
RXL said that the best intercept was from drillhole RXRC239: 13m @ 60.49g/t Au from 177m, including 4m @ 191.56g/t Au from 181m. It may be noted that RXRC239 is 550m along strike of, and within the same mineralised structure as, the previously reported intersection of 25m @ 34.79g/t Au in RXRC287.
The JV partners reported that the drilling at the Youanmi Gold Project continues to deliver impressive gold grades with other highlights including RXRC310: 4m @ 18.53g/t Au from 88m (Grace); RXRC308: 3m @ 22.67g/t Au from 10m (Grace); RXRC305: 3m @ 10.26g/t Au from 107m (Grace North); and RXRC312: 3m @ 5.72g/t Au from 217m at EOH (Grace North).
All significant intersections are as shown below.
Strike length extended
The company reported that very high-grade results encountered at Grace extend strike length of mineralised envelope to 700m.
RXL said that the results confirm that Grace mineralisation is hosted within strongly sheared, fractured, and altered granite within a broad mineralised corridor trending NNW. This structural corridor within the Youanmi granite, and its orientation, had not been recognised at Youanmi by previous explorers and miners.
AC drilling
The company said that it has commenced a 12,000m air core drilling program to test the northern extent of the mineralised corridor and parallel structures now recognised in the granite, with potential to extend mineralisation further to the northeast.
RXL said that the assay results from aircore drilling are still pending. However, the company said that early interpretations are that much of the sporadic RAB drilling undertaken by previous operators failed to penetrate an almost ubiquitous silcrete layer at around 11m vertical depth, potentially leaving extensive granite-hosted mineralisation undetected.
Diamond drilling
The Company announced that it is also conducting diamond drilling to better characterise the Grace Prospect mineralisation. Assay results from this are pending.
RXL said that the logging of mineralised core intercepts from Grace indicates that gold is hosted within highly altered zones of fractured granite within an overall north-northwest trending structural zone. Mineralisation is associated with intense sericite-quartz alteration of primary granite.
Investor briefing by MD
The JV partners reported that Rox’s Managing Director, Alex Passmore, will host a Zoom webinar to discuss the results.
What’s next?
The company said that further work (RC and diamond drilling) is justified to locate extensions to mineralisation both at depth and along strike.
Management comments
Rox Resources Managing Director Alex Passmore said: “We are very pleased to report these follow on results from the ongoing Grace Prospect drilling. Mineralisation strike length continues to grow as we conduct step out drilling with impressive grades being encountered. With a combination of infill RC and diamond drilling we are well placed to deliver a strong maiden resource for Grace in due course”.