TG Metals (ASX:TG6) has confirmed widespread near-surface laterite-hosted gold mineralisation at its Van Uden Gold Project in Western Australia.
The 213-hole auger drilling program successfully intercepted gold mineralisation from surface across multiple soil anomalies, returning extensive mineralisation outside the existing resources.
Results include TGAU189 returning 3m @ 1.01 grams per tonne gold (Au) from surface, TGAU200 returning 0.8m @ 0.87g/t Au, and TGAU024 returning 0.5m @ 0.86g/t Au.
The rapidly emerging mineralised footprint is substantially larger than the existing laterite mineral resource estimate of 1.053Mt @ 0.52g/t Au for 17,700 ounces.
“These results provide a high degree of confidence that the laterite resource can be easily expanded with cheap infill drilling,” CEO David Selfe says.
“Growing the laterite resource has the potential to materially enhance the economics of the Van Uden Heap Leach Project by extending mine life and supporting increased throughput.
“As a low-capital, near-term development opportunity, a heap leach operation represents an important potential cash flow stream while we continue advancing the broader gold development strategy at Van Uden.”
The auger drilling, conducted with an ATV-mounted mechanical auger, completed 382m across 213 holes. Each hole was sampled as one sample over its full depth, with all gold values above 0.1g/t located within laterite material.
Drill hole depths are not indicative of the full laterite thickness, as the auger method was unable to fully penetrate the hardened laterite profile.
A program of shallow infill resource definition aircore drilling is proposed for the newly defined targets and other untested soil geochemical anomalies, expected to commence in the next four to six weeks, subject to approvals.
The heap leach study is expected to be released within two to four weeks, with definitive metallurgical test work, engineering design, and equipment procurement progressing in parallel.
TG Metals is a Western Australian explorer advancing the Van Uden and Lake Johnston projects, with a focus on near-term development opportunities.
Write to JC Villarba at Mining.com.au
Images: TG Metals
