Strong investor appetite for new discoveries continues to buoy Australia’s booming mineral exploration industry as some of the most exciting ASX-listed juniors ramp up their efforts across the country.
St George Mining has given investors plenty to smile about, with initial results from its maiden drill program at the Patterson copper-gold project in WA hitting prospective basement rocks and ‘exceeding expectations’, Aeris Resources reported further high grade copper assays from the Tritton tenement package in NSW as the Constellation deposit footprint continues to grow, and Rox Resources hit gold mineralisation in all seven holes in the latest round of assays returned from the Link prospect at the Youanmi gold project in WA.
In other news:
- Buru Energy operations update
- Mineral Resources secures rig to drill conventional gas well Lockyer Deep 1
- Zenith Minerals strong massive copper sulphide results in twin hole program at Develin Creek Project
- Northern Minerals second phase drilling commences at Browns Range
St George Mining’s (ASX: SGQ) Paterson project in the Paterson region of WA is showing plenty of early promise.
Multiple holes from its maiden drilling program intersected prospective basement rocks indicative of base metal and gold mineralisation in the project area. The company said that initial results had exceeded expectations.
To date, St George has drilled 18 holes of the 50-hole campaign, completing 3,338 metres of 10,000 metres of scheduled drilling.
The Paterson project sits in ‘elephant country’ and shares the neighbourhood with the Telfer gold mine and the Winu and Havieron copper-gold discoveries. It represents an early-stage opportunity for St George and complements the company’s Mt Alexander nickel-copper sulphide project.
St George executive chairman John Prineas said: “These early observations are confirming our belief that our ground is fertile for base metal and gold mineralisation.
“We are seeking to source a diamond rig to complete deeper drilling to further test these emerging high-value copper and gold targets.”
At Mt Alexander in WA’s north-eastern Goldfields, multiple off-hole EM conductors were this week identified by a down-hole EM survey on drill hole MAD200.
The company said it was a textbook geological setting supporting the potential for further nickel-copper sulphide deposits proximal to MAD200.
St George has been continuously drilling at Mt Alexander since January, and Mr Prineas said that systematic step-out drilling had extended the footprint of the intrusive unit hosting nickel-copper sulphides along a strike of more than 5.5km.
“All deeper drill holes in the western part of the Cathedrals Belt have intersected intrusive-style rocks. These results indicate a very large mineral system at the Cathedrals Belt with potential for further discoveries of high-grade mineralisation in the underexplored western section of the Belt,” Mr Prineas said.
St George’s share price closed the week at 7.1¢ per share.
Aeris Resources (ASX: AIS) has received assays from a further 30 RC holes at the Constellation deposit, part of the Tritton tenement package in NSW, intersecting near surface high-grade copper mineralisation over a 200m strike length.
The company has now received assays for 52 RC holes, and drilling continues with three active RC rigs at Constellation.
It is the latest round of good news for Aeris, who last month raised $50 million on the back of strong diamond drilling results from Constellation. Aeris said Constellation continues to surprise and the strong results further increase the potential for the Constellation deposit to become a significant new discovery.
Company executive chairman Andre Labuschagne said that near surface, high grade copper mineralisation has now been traced 200m along strike and remains open to the southwest.
“The RC drill program has been a tremendous success. To say that the near surface drilling results at Constellation have surprised on the upside would be an understatement,” he said.
“Approval for an additional 45 diamond drill holes will allow us to commence an infill resource definition drill program on the upper section of the deposit.”
Aeris share price closed the week at 18¢ per share
Rox Resources (ASX: RXL) received assays for seven RC holes at the Link prospect, part of the Youanmi project in WA. All seven holes intersected gold mineralisation, with results from eight more RC holes and nine diamond holes pending.
The company said that the Link target area, as with the Junction target area, are depth extension zones that have not previously been effectively explored and offer the potential to return significant depth extensions of surface mineralisation.
Rox bought into the Youanmi gold project in June 2019 and is currently 70% owner and manager with Venus Metals Corporation holding the balance.
In late June, Rox announced a 39% increase in Total Mineral Resources at Youanmi, increasing the previous estimate by 466 koz to 1,656 koz of contained gold.
Rox managing director, Alex Passmore said: “It’s highly encouraging to report new mineralised positions previously unrecognised close to existing mine development.”
Rox’s share price closed the week at 42¢ per share
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