Bellevue Gold (ASX: BGL) has unveiled a host of high-grade infill drill results which will further underpin its maiden Indicated Resource at the Bellevue gold project in Western Australia.
Managing Director Steve Parsons said the results are considered important because they strongly support Bellevue’s geological model, which predicts gently-plunging high-grade shoots within the mineralised envelop.
Mr Parsons this interpretation is entirely consistent with shoots which were mined at Bellevue underground from 1986 – 1997, when the low prevailing gold price forced the operation to be closed. The mine produced 800,000oz at ~15 g/t in this time.
Bellevue’s independent JORC Inferred Resource stands at 1.8 million ounces grading 11.1 g/t. The company is on track to publish its maiden Indicated Resource next quarter and mining studies are set to commence in the September quarter.
Dewatering of the underground mine workings is continuing which will allow assessment of previous underground mine development ahead of any re-entry and future drilling from underground.
Hits such as 4.7m @ 32.7 g/t and 3.2m @ 20.8g/t show consistency of high-grade gold mineralisation; Maiden Indicated Resource on track for release next quarter.
These outstanding results continue to demonstrate the large potential of this asset. The grades are very high, the mineralisation is consistent and the geometry is in line with our model,” Mr Parsons said.
“These latest results will feed into our coming Indicated Resource estimate, which will go a long way to de-risking the project. Drilling is continuing at a frenetic pace with eight rigs operating and we are preparing to start mining studies in the next quarter.
“Everything we are seeing supports our view that Bellevue is set to become a significant WA gold producer with high grades and substantial growth potential.”
A total of eight diamond core rigs are currently operating across both exploration and resource infill drilling.
Results from all the resource domains currently targeted with infill drilling confirm robust underground mineable widths and grades of the lodes and excellent continuity to the plunging ore shoots.
Exploration drilling with two rigs are targeting step outs in the Deacon and Mavis Lodes to use as a platform for Down Hole Electromagnetic (DHEM) targeting. The remaining six rigs are infilling lodes to upgrade the resource category at the areas which form the current resource of 1.8 Million oz @ 11.1 g/t gold of Inferred category resources.
As drilling has progressed, the geological model has held together well with the targeted mineralised shears and lode positions consistently intersected at the predicted depths. The high-grade ore shoot geometry has also been demonstrated across all known lodes.
The high-grade mineralised shoots are associated with true widths between 3 to 10 metres and are characterised by high pyrrhotite sulphide contents and abundant free gold.
The plunge orientation of the high-grade shoots is coincident with the axis of folding at the deposit and is analogous to the high-grade mineralisation exploited at the historic Bellevue Mine (historically produced 800,000 ounces @ ~ 15 g/t gold).
Phase one resource conversion drilling has targeted the steeply dipping Tribune Lode, the Viago and Vlad gently dipping lodes and mineralisation on the Bellevue Lode system immediately south of the historic underground mine.