Middle Island Resources Limited (ASX: MDI) has discovered another new gold deposit, Plum Pudding, during Phase 1 reverse circulation (RC) drilling at its wholly-owned Sandstone gold project in WA.
Managing Director, Rick Yeates, said Plum Pudding is ideally located just 850m south of the company’s gold processing plant.
Mr Yeates said the Plum Pudding discovery continues the company’s run of encouraging results from the recently completed 13,400m, Phase 1 RC programme at Sandstone in the central goldfields of Western Australia.
Phase 1 RC drilling represents the second of four planned programmes that collectively comprise a campaign totalling at least 17,300m of exploration and resource definition drilling at Sandstone.
The Phase 1 RC programme, exclusively focussed on open pit targets at Sandstone, has tested some 14 gold deposits and prospects, all within 4km of the company’s 100%-owned gold processing plant and the majority on permitted Mining Leases.
In the case of existing deposits, drilling is designed to variously extend Mineral Resources, reclassify Mineral Resources from Inferred to Indicated status, and/or upgrade JORC Code 2004 Mineral Resources to JORC Code 2012 compliance.
These comprise the Two Mile Hill, Shillington, Wirraminna, Goat Farm, Twin Shafts and Plum Pudding deposits.
The additional eight prospects assessed by Phase 1 RC drilling represent those which have had little or no drilling, but represent targets selected on the basis of their interpreted potential to generate open pit gold Mineral Resources.
These targets variously include the Ridge, McIntyre, McClaren, Old Town Well, Wirraminna Laterite (East and West), Davis, Tailings (South and East) prospects, and the G2 and G3 gravity targets.
Highlights of new RC drill intercepts returned from the Plum Pudding deposit include 3m at 3.72g/t (from 29m in MSRC 420), 10m at 3.08g/t (from 41m depth in MSRC420), 2m at 4.98g/t (from 33m in MSRC 421), 3m at 3.72g/t (from 29m depth in MSRC420), 2m at 4.98g/t (from 33m in MSRC 421) and 12m at 0.93g/t Au (from 39m depth in MSRC421). These results define a lower grade southern extension to significant 1986-88 Clackline Limited RC drill intersections of 17m at 8.16g/t (from 33m in PP003R), 11m at 22.5g/t (from 17m in PP030R), 12m at 3.52g/t (from 34m in PP030R) and 8m at 6.98g/t Au (from 22m in PP094D) that define a very high grade gold core to the deposit.
The Plum Pudding deposit was originally identified by historic reconnaissance drilling completed by Clackline Limited, in joint venture with Black Hills Minerals, in 1987. A small, shallow laterite pit (defined by vacuum drilling) was mined and processed by Herald Resources in 1993.
Centred on a high grade mineralised core defined by previous drilling, Phase 1 RC drilling at the Plum Pudding deposit has extended mineralisation over a 240m strike length to the south,” Mr Yeates said.
“Subject to infill and verification RC and diamond drilling, Plum Pudding is likely to represent a further new, shallow, oxide gold deposit that will be assessed as part of the updated pre-feasibility study (PFS), particularly as it is situated only 850m south of the company’s 100%-owned, 600,000tpa processing plant, within granted Mining Lease M57/129.
“The results of this programme to date and the strong prevailing gold price significantly heighten the prospects of a positive mill recommissioning decision.”
