Barton Gold (ASX:BGD) has delivered another successful year in 2022, progressing its pipeline of advanced exploration projects and brownfield mines.
The Australian gold exploration company has been focused on the exploration of its 2 large-scale mineral systems at the Tarcoola Project and the Tunkillia Projects.
Strategically located within South Australia’s Tarcoola Goldfield and the Yerda and Yarlbrinda Shear Zones respectively, throughout 2022 both projects have been centred around the company’s various exploration activities.
Barton enters 2022 in 5th gear
In March this year, the company identified additional priority drilling targets following gravity surveys at its Tarcoola Gold Project in South Australia.
The gravity surveys also identified a new, previously unrecognised large-scale anomaly beneath Mining Lease 6455, as well as a major gravity high signature around the eastern margin of a ‘significant’ gravity low.
The presence of the gravity low was interpreted from the company’s high-resolution aeromagnetic data to be attributable to the presence of Paxton Granite, along with possible Hiltaba Suite granitoid.
During this time, a ‘significant’ +20,000m program of drilling was planned to be executed at both the Tarcoola and Tunkillia Gold Projects over a 6-month period
During this time, a ‘significant’ +20,000m program of drilling was planned to be executed at both the Tarcoola and Tunkillia Gold Projects over a 6-month period.
The goal of drilling was to ‘significantly’ expand the mineral footprints of both tenements and build upon the company’s ‘significant’ regional 1.1 million ounce Mineral Resources platform, which at the time sat at 28.68 million tonnes at 1.2g/t Au.
The company also made the decision to expand its South Australian leadership team with the addition of highly experienced mining industry veterans, including Ex-Heathgate Resources Chief Financial Officer (CFO) Nicholas Byrne as its new CFO and Ex-Minotaur Resources General Manager of Exploration, Ian Garsed, as its Principal Geologist.
By the end of March, the company entered into a strategic R&D investment partnership with SensOre Limited to trial Discriminant Predictive Targeting (DPT) for gold and copper mineralisation over the 60,000km-square central Gawler Craton.
The company ended the March quarter with $10.77 million in cash, ensuring a strong balance sheet for continued scale exploration and project development throughout the entire year.
By mid-June, assays had been received from drilling at the Tarcoola Project’s Perseverance West, Ealbara and School deposits, returning gold grades of up to 7.62g/t.
It was at this time that Barton also received $1 million from the sale of gold materials to ABC Bullion, a precious metals refiner and bullion dealer based in Sydney, New South Wales.
Barton ended the June quarter with $11.2 million in cash.
2H 2022 extremely promising for Barton
In late July, initial assays from drilling at the Perseverance West deposit returned ‘high-grade’ intersections that validated prior results from the deposit, confirming the southern strike and depth extensions of the shallow open pit.
Key results from that drilling campaign included hole TBM0080 with 5m at 6.60g/t Au from 83m, including 1m at 29.8g/t Au from 83m; and hole TBM0083 with 6m at 7.62g/t Au from 44m, including 2m at 18.2g/t Au from 44m.
These results, in conjunction with step-out drillholes conducted during the May drilling campaign, ultimately led to the extension of the Perseverance West gold zone.
By early September, as Mining.com reported, the company continued to increase the mineralised footprint of its Tunkillia Project with the discovery of a third gold zone that boasted 500m of strike and open to extension.
‘Significant’ assay results within the broad zone of alteration included hole TKB0041 with 25m at 1.51g/t Au from 81m including 1m at 13.9g/t Au from 101m; and hole TKBB0043 with 17m at 3.20g/t Au from 77m including 10m at 4.77g/t Au from 78m.
Barton’s Managing Director, Alex Scanlon said at the time that the new gold zone at Tunkillia further demonstrated the substantial gold endowment of the Yarlbrinda Shear Zone.
Then in October, Barton was granted exploration licence EL6845 for its Tunkillia Gold Project through its wholly owned subsidiary Tunkillia 2.
The tenement was reported to comprise a 77km-square surface area located adjacent to tenement EL5901, which is host to the 965,000oz Au JORC 2012 Mineral Resource Estimate (MRE) at the 223 deposit.
Barton maintained this pace of tenement expansion with the acquisition of another major new 435km-square tenement located adjacent to the Perseverance Mine at its Tarcoola Gold Project.
At the same time, Barton announced the expansion of the recently extended 12,000m RC drilling campaign at the Tunkillia Project to target depth extensions of the 223 deposit and the new 500m long Area 51 gold zone.
In conjunction with ongoing drilling at the Tunkillia and Tarcoola tenements, the company continues to seek for further mineralisation across its exploration projects.
The company will continue to work towards defining an updated MRE for the Tunkillia Project heading into the New Year as well.
