Sierra Nevada Gold (ASX:SNX) has reported the discovery of a ‘high-grade’ gold-silver-polymetallic breccia system at its As Safra Copper-Gold Project in Saudi Arabia.
Hole ASRC0012 returned 11m @ 1.15 grams per tonne gold (Au), 108.7g/t silver (Ag), 0.21% copper (Cu), 4.64% zinc (Zn), and 1.88% lead (Pb) from 49m, within a broader interval of 17m @ 0.81g/t Au, 75.2g/t Ag, 0.14% Cu, 3.08% Zn, and 1.25% Pb from 49m.
Hole ASRC0011 returned 13m @ 1.14g/t Au, 8.5g/t Ag, 0.60% Cu, 1.92% Zn, and 0.73% Pb from surface, within a broader interval of 20m @ 0.9g/t Au, 10.4g/t Ag, 0.40% Cu, 1.38% Zn, and 0.52% Pb from surface.
The discovery sits beneath shallow cover approximately 400m south of the Central Copper Zone and remains open along strike and at depth.
CEO Adam Oehlman says the discovery ‘advances the company’s understanding’ of the As Safra mineral system.
“This discovery represents much more than another drill intersection. We now have evidence that the system evolved through multiple mineralising stages and was capable of producing copper-gold skarn mineralisation, skarn gold-dominant zones, and precious-metal-rich polymetallic breccias,” Oehlman observes.
The breccia has geochemical characteristics consistent with an intermediate-sulphidation affinity and represents an additional mineralisation style within the hydrothermal centre.
Results from 21 remaining phase one drill holes are expected over the next two to four weeks. The company is planning follow-up drilling for an expanded phase two program.
The As Safra Project exhibits a district-scale mineralised footprint, with the principal mineralised corridor extending for approximately 5.5km by 0.6km and containing numerous copper and gold occurrences and extensive ancient mine workings.
Sierra Nevada Gold is a US-incorporated explorer advancing a portfolio of precious and base metals projects across Nevada, US, and Saudi Arabia, anchored by its flagship Warrior Gold Project and the district-scale As Safra Copper-Gold Project.
Write to JC Villarba at Mining.com.au
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