Calidus Resources (ASX: CAI) has extended the known mineralisation at its Warrawoona Gold Project in the Pilbara by 250m below the existing Resource through some positive deep drilling results.
Managing Director, Dave Reeves, said the results are highly significant because they show the potential for additional underground mining at Warrawoona, which in turn adds to the overall scope to grow production and mine life utilising the central project infrastructure.
This drilling demonstrates that the main mineralised Klondyke shear zone continues at depths well below the designed open pit and underground and highlights the longer-term underground potential at Warrawoona,” Mr Reeves said.
“With main construction about to start, the scoping study on the nearby Blue Spec deposit almost completed and exploration ramping up, our strategy to develop the project while growing the gold inventory is progressing to plan.”
Results from the deep drilling include:
- 1m @ 5.12 g/t Au from 638m;
- 1.79 m @ 4.82 g/t Au from 627.79m;
- 1.92m @ 2.84 g/t Au from 589.08m; and
- 3m @ 1.84 g/t Au from 599m.
The Klondyke deposit lies within mining leases M45/669, M45/547 and M45/670 approximately 25km southeast of Marble Bar in Western Australia. It forms part of the Warrawoona Gold Project. Klondyke hosts a Mineral Resource of 42.3Mt @ 1.02g/t for 1.4Moz (Measured, Indicated and Inferred) and Ore Reserves (Open Pit and Underground) of 14Mt @ 1.2g/t for 521koz.
In June 2020 RC pre-collars were drilled for two diamond holes designed to target the main ore zone at Klondyke roughly 300m below the present Mineral Resources. The aim of the drilling was to establish continuity of the mineralising system at depth and to define areas potentially amenable to underground mining.
The drill holes were intended to follow up on intercepts about 400m below surface further to the west under the historic Klondyke Queen mine. The pre-collars were drilled in July 2020 to depths of 438m and 468m, very close to the planned traces of the holes.
In September 2020 drilling commenced on the diamond tails to the two pre-collars. The two tails and a wedge off each tail were finished in November 2020. Delays to the drilling were caused by problems in manning double shifts on the rig owing to Covid-19 travel restrictions. The drilling has confirmed the presence of the main Klondyke shear at depths >550m below surface and about 300m below the presently defined Mineral Resources.
Encouragingly, the main sericite and fuchsite alteration zones and a chert marker known as Kopcke’s leader, have been shown to persist at depth.
All assays from these holes have now been received and the best intercepts recorded were 1.79m @ 4.82 g/t Au from 626m and 1m @ 5.12 g/t Au from 638m. Neither of the two holes or their wedges intersected the narrow high-grade shoots within the main ore body that were the focus of historic mining and that have been identified in recent infill drilling at Klondyke.
