Successful West Australian base metals explorer St George Mining (ASX: SGQ) ) is pleased to provide an update on exploration activities at its Paterson Project, located within the Paterson region of Western Australia.
HIGHLIGHTS
DRILL PROGRAMME STATUS:
- 35 holes completed for 6,264m drilled as part of the maiden drill programme at St George’s 100%-owned Paterson Project.
- Follow-up diamond drilling scheduled for October.
- The reverse circulation (RC) rig has mobilised from Paterson to St George’s high-grade Mt Alexander nickel-copper sulphide project for a circa. 5,000m drilling campaign.
PATERSON DRILLING DELIVERS ENCOURAGING RESULTS:
- XRF analysis of the basement rocks intersected by the drilling indicates elevated levels of pathfinder elements for potential base metal and gold deposits including highly anomalous bismuth, arsenic, copper, zinc, lead, molybdenum and vanadium.
- Petrographic analysis of samples from several completed drill holes confirms the presence of chalcopyrite and metasediments, which is the lithology known to host base metal mineralisation in the Paterson region .
- First assays from the Paterson drilling are due next month.
FURTHER EXPLORATION AT PATERSON:
- An airborne electromagnetic (VTEM)survey over the key stratigraphy within E45/5226 will be completed in October ahead of a planned diamond drill programme.
- Ground gravity survey to be completed over St George’s second Paterson tenement – the 100% owned Exploration Licence E45/5422 – as well as E45/5226.
St George’s maiden drill programme at the Paterson Project commenced in early June with 10,000m of planned air core (AC) and reverse circulation (RC) drilling. This programme comprised a number of wide spaced drill traverses designed to test the lithology and depth of cover across a 35km strike of prospective stratigraphy at St George’s E45/5226.
Encouragingly, multiple drill holes intersected prospective basement rocks including chalcopyrite bearing, intensely altered and gossanous metasediments. St George believes these rocks are indicative of potential base metal and gold mineralisation in the project area.
Follow-up drilling by diamond core is scheduled for October.
John Prineas, St George Mining’s Executive Chairman, said:
The inaugural drill programme at our Paterson Project is delivering great results with confirmation of basement rocks that are known to host major copper and gold deposits in the Paterson region.
“The RC rig has done its job at Paterson and has now mobilised to our Mt Alexander nickel-copper sulphide project in the Goldfieldsto drill a range of new targets as well as complete some resource definition drilling. We will announce more about the Mt Alexander drilling shortly.
“The next phase of drilling at Paterson will be with diamond core drilling – this will be deeper drilling to further test the emerging copper and gold targets that we have identified.
“A diamond rig is scheduled to arrive at Paterson in mid-October, which gives us time to first complete an important airborne EM survey over the high-priority areas of interest. The data from this survey will assist to better define the copper and gold targets for the diamond drilling.
“We are also pleased to launch our first exploration work at our second Paterson tenement – E45/5422 – with a gravity survey to be completed there later this month.
“The Paterson region has already delivered several major copper and gold discoveries. As a new entrant to the region, we are excited that our maiden drilling programme has delivered such encouraging signs about the fertility of our ground for base metal and gold mineralisation.”
