Stavely Minerals (ASX:SVY) has extended gold–silver mineralisation at depth beneath its earlier shallow discovery at the Freddy’s Find prospect in Victoria.
Diamond drill hole STDD0002 returned 13.7m @ 1.8 grams per tonne gold equivalent (AuEq) from 223.3m, including 4m @ 3.41g/t AuEq from 233m and 1m @ 7.03g/t AuEq from the same depth.
The result sits within a broader interval of 32m @ 1g/t AuEq from 220m. A second zone returned 28m @ 0.63g/t AuEq from 331m, including narrower intervals grading up to 1.43g/t AuEq.
Stavely says the deeper drilling extends mineralisation intersected in reverse circulation (RC) hole STRC0132, which returned 16m @ 1.05g/t AuEq from 46m, including 7m @ 1.90g/t AuEq from 53m.
Managing Director Chris Cairns says the results confirm Freddy’s Find as a ‘blind’ gold-silver discovery beneath 20–50m of younger basalt cover.
“We have demonstrated that the broader system is fertile for potentially economic mineralisation,” Cairns says.
“What we have yet to determine — particularly with such limited drilling completed to date — is whether we are in the best part of the system.”
The prospect was identified by CRA Exploration through aeromagnetic interpretation in 1996, but two aircore holes failed to penetrate the basalt. Stavely later identified gold, silver, and pathfinder-element anomalism after drilling through the cover in 2022.
The reported AuEq grades use gold and silver prices of US$4,509 and US$72 ($6371.37 and $101.73) per ounce, respectively, and assume an 80% silver recovery. Stavely notes that no metallurgical test work has been completed at this early exploration stage.
The company says it is planning 10–12 reconnaissance RC holes to evaluate the strike extent of Freddy’s Find and provide potential pre-collars for further diamond drilling.
The program will also test the S4 porphyry target southwest of Freddy’s Find and a previously undrilled look-alike target to the west. Stavely interprets these targets as parts of a broader porphyry-epithermal system.
Freddy’s Find lies within Stavely’s wholly owned Stavely Copper-Gold Project, which covers about 130km of volcanic arc terrain in western Victoria.
Write to France Pinzon at Mining.com.au
Images: Stavely Minerals
