Santana Minerals (ASX:SMI) has reported ‘high-grade’ gold intercepts from infill drilling at the Rise and Shine deposit, with results supporting early-stage mine planning.
The company completed four holes from a 12-hole program designed to close drill spacing to 20m in the southern area of the deposit where initial open pit mining is planned.
Drilling aims to confirm ore positioning for consistent feed rates at planned processing levels.
Results from MDD504 and MDD524A confirm the thick, ‘high-grade’ mineralised domain in the upper Rise and Shine Shear Zone.
MDD504 returned 15.5m @ 7.7 grams per tonne gold (Au) from 185.0m and 4.2m @ 14.5g/t Au from 211.8m. MDD524A intersected 7.0m @ 6.4g/t Au from 181.1m.
MDD525 reinforced continuity of stacked mineralised zones with three separate intercepts:
- 6.7m @ 2g/t Au from 165.4m
- 6m @ 1.9g/t Au from 175.0m
- 9m @ 3.9g/t Au from 184.0m
The southern margin of the ‘high-grade’ domain was confirmed by fringe hole MDD523, which returned 4m @ 0.80g/t Au from 157m.
“With permitting and financing progressing, we’re now focused on refining the mine plan ahead of development. These infill results provide increased confidence in the high-grade ore that will underpin the early years of production,” CEO Damian Spring says.
MDD504 intersected an additional ‘high-grade’ zone beneath the main domain, with 4.2m @ 14.50g/t Au correlating with a comparable intercept in adjacent hole MDD382.
The company says this suggests a potential second stacked high-grade lens that will be evaluated during future geological modelling.
The infill program continues with eight additional holes planned to close spacing in areas targeted for early ore production.
Mine plans are being refined ahead of advanced financing activities scheduled within three months of fast-track approval consents.
Santana Minerals is a gold developer focused on advancing the Bendigo-Ophir project in New Zealand’s Central Otago goldfields.
Write to JC Villarba at Mining.com.au
Images: Santana Minerals
