Toro Energy Limited (ASX: TOE) has announced a highly encouraging update from the exploration drilling on its Yandal gold project in WA.
The company reported that gold mineralisation has been intersected in three of the four RC exploration holes drilled at the Golden Ways Target Area on Toro’s Yandal Gold Project.
This includes 1m at 4.35g/t from 80m downhole depth in TERC11, 5m at 0.94g/t including 2m at 2.15g/t from 97m downhole depth in TERC12, and 1m at 0.66g/t from 41m downhole depth in TERC10.
TOE said that Golden Ways Target Area has been proven highly prospective for gold mineralisation in hydrothermal quartz vein and oxide gold settings.
The company reported that the current gold values are from limited selective sampling for quick turnaround analyses, and said that more geochemistry is expected in November.
Meanwhile, drilling is ongoing in other areas of the Yandal Gold Project. The program is expected to be completed by the end of the month with geochemical assays returned by the end of November.
Yandal gold project
The Yandal Gold Project is located within the world class gold district, the Yandal Greenstone Belt less than 35km NE of the multi-million ounce Bronzewing Gold Mine.
The project comprises over 143 km2 of contiguous and untested yet highly prospective exploration ground, in the high yielding Yandal Gold District.
Important target areas of Yandal project include Christmas, Shadow Rock, Golden Way, November Rain, Maze, and Mako.
Drilling at Golden Ways
The company had commenced drilling at Golden Ways aimed at confirming the presence of vein gold and Au alteration systems at depth near historical workings on E53/1211, the northern-most tenement in the Yandal Gold Project.
Four reverse circulation (RC) drill holes, TERC09, TERC10, TERC11, and TERC12, were completed in the area for a total of 792m.
TOE said that a limited selection of 1m grab samples was collected from drill chip piles and sent to the laboratory for expedited gold analysis.
Significant gold mineralisation
Toro reported that significant gold mineralisation was intersected in three of the four holes drilled.
TOE said that up to 1m at 4.35g/t was intersected from 80m downhole depth in a highly altered quartz vein in drill hole TERC11, up to 5m at 0.94g/t including 2m at 2.2g/t was intersected from 97m downhole depth in a large 10m thick quartz vein in drill hole TERC12, and up to 1m at 0.66g/t was intersected from 41m downhole depth in the weathered zone of drill hole TERC10.
TERC10
The company reported that lower grade gold in TERC10 was intersected in red-brown clay within the weathering profile some 800m to the NW of TERC11 and TERC12.
Toro said that TERC10 is not only an indication that the entire Golden Ways Target Area is prospective for gold but also that shallow oxide gold should be an exploration target in the valleys and creek lines where the weathering profile is at its deepest.
TERC11
TOE said that the higher grade gold mineralisation in TERC11 was associated with intensive hanging wall clay alteration against a quartz vein shoot in chloritised but competent meta-basalt.
The company noted that higher grade gold intersected in TERC11 has no surface expression, highlighting the potential for gold mineralisation between vein sets exposed at surface.
Toro said that the significance of this massive sulphide for gold exploration or for other commodities is currently being investigated with detailed geochemistry pending.
TERC12
TOE noted that the quartz vein intersected in TERC12 sub-crops at surface where it extends for some 500m along strike. The company said that the recent detailed vein mapping in the area shows significant potential for further vein mineralisation.
The company said that the footwall of the quartz vein zone is sheared at the contact and dominated by carbonate alteration with intermittent zones of pyrite. Full geochemistry for this zone is pending.
The highly prospective Golden ways
The company noted that the gold intersects in TERC11 and TERC12 are within 140m of each other suggesting that the area around these two drill holes has potential to produce gold of economic quantity if the mineralisation within the veins can be expanded or upgraded or if further mineralising veins can be defined.
Toro said that it believes Golden Ways is highly prospective for hydrothermal vein and oxide gold mineralisation of economic grade and volume.
As a result, Toro has instigated detailed vein and geological mapping for immediate exploration target generation for follow-up drilling.
Updates and next steps
Toro said that the ongoing drill program has so far completed 14 RC drill holes (TERC01 to TERC14) for a total of 2,647m as at 23 October 2019. This includes TERC14, an extra RC hole drilled on the western extent of Christmas target.
TOE said that hole TERC14 was aimed at testing the geology 50m beneath the top of basement samples collected from an aircore hole drilled earlier in the year which had nickel (Ni), platinum (Pt), palladium (Pd) and low-level gold anomalies.
TERC14 was also aimed at giving some lateral extent to TERC13, drilled 200m directly to the west of TERC14 and TERC06, drilled 500m to the E-SE of TERC14. Both TERC13 and TERC14 are still being assessed.
The company noted that TERC14 had difficulty drilling through the paleochannel and although it did intersect basement, eventually had to be terminated early at 210m.
Toro said that mud rotary/diamond combination drilling techniques are being planned for future drilling through the paleochannel.
ToR reported that both TERC13 and TERC14 are still being assessed.
