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Tartana Minerals Limited (ASX: TAT) (the Company), is pleased to advise that it has upgraded its Nightflower Exploration Target after reviewing its earlier estimation in light of the recent increases in the Antimony price. Nightflower is a high grade silver – lead deposit with, previously overlooked, significant Antimony credits.
Highlights:
- Nightflower project is a high grade silver deposit with historically impressive intersections from past drilling including 9 m @ 506g/t Silver (>16 oz/t), 12.6% Lead, and 1.46% Zinc.1
- An Exploration Target range reported on 6 June 2022 has now been substantially upgraded to 2.75 Mt @ 364 g/t Ag Eq for 32 Moz Ag Eq to 5.36 Mt @ 270 g/t Ag Eq for 47 Moz Ag Eq. The Exploration Target is conceptual in nature only and there is no guarantee that further exploration will define a resource.
- Antimony has contributed to the Exploration Target, however, recent significant increases in the Antimony price due to China's export restrictions have improved the project’s economics.
- Historical drilling results indicate Antimony grades up 3.05m @ 9.0% Sb, 24.0% Pb, 10.5% Zn, 14.9 oz/t Ag, and 0.38% Cu (Hole NF72DD11), although the Exploration Target is based on a 1% Sb grade.
- Drilling is now being planned to test the target and upgrade previously identified mineralisation to JORC 2012 reporting standards.
In mid-August China, the world’s largest producer of Antimony – producing 83,000t in 2023 (USGS) - accounting for 48% of the world’s supply, will be restricting Antimony exports from 21 September 2024. Consequently, the Antimony price has significantly increased and is currently trading at US$24,500/tonne (Argus Metals, Antimony ingot min 99.65% fob China).
The revised Exploration Target is summarised in Figure 1, incorporating the original tonnages from the 6 June 2022 announcement with revisions to the grade range, detailed later in this report.
Figure 1. Revised Exploration Target. Note: The Exploration Target is conceptual in nature only and there is no guarantee that further exploration will define a resource.
The estimated Antimony content range within the Exploration Target is summarized in Figure 2 below.
Figure 2. Revised Exploration Target with an estimated contained Antimony range. Note: The Exploration Target is conceptual in nature only and there is no guarantee that further exploration will define a resource.
Tartana Minerals Managing Director, Stephen Bartrop, commented:
“Significant increases in our Exploration Target, Antimony prices, and consequently the economics of the project underpins the importance of the Nightflower project. With production at the Tartana mine site reaching steady state, this opportunity is only more significant. Further this represents only one target (The Digger Lode mineralisation) and excludes the prospectivity of the adjacent Terrace lode and a possible further discovery.”
Nightflower Silver Project History
The Nightflower project is located 40 km north of Chillagoe in Far North Queensland. It covers a substantial part of the northern Featherbed Volcanic Group and the underlying and surrounding Hodgkinson Formation.
It was discovered as a high grade silver deposit in 1923 and was visited by the Queensland Premier in October 1923. On the Premier’s return to Brisbane he reported that the ore at Nightflower was very rich and a truck-load treated at Chillagoe gave about 30% of lead and 40 ounces of silver to the ton (Source: Qld Govt Mining Journal Vol XXIV, Oct 1923).
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Tartana Minerals
Investor Insight
Tartana Minerals is a new copper producer generating strong cash flow, with a substantial exploration footprint in a tier 1 mining jurisdiction. Tartana Minerals is creating shareholder value through investment in increasing its existing copper, zinc and gold resources and accelerating exploration of key projects within its highly prospective exploration portfolio. Tartana Minerals presents a compelling investment against the backdrop of a strong macroeconomic environment for copper.
Overview
Tartana Minerals (ASX:TAT) is a copper, gold, silver and zinc, producer, explorer and developer in Far North Queensland. Its flagship project is the 100 percent owned Tartana copper and zinc project which comprises four mining leases located north of Chillagoe. The company’s business model has involved refurbishing an existing heap leach - solvent extraction – crystallisation plant which is located on the Tartana mining leases. The refurbishment and commissioning of this plant is now completed and the company is producing copper sulphate pentahydrate which is sold to offtaker, Kanins International. Copper sulphate is priced on a premium plus percentage of the LME copper price and provides investors with leverage to anticipate increasing copper prices.
The company, formerly known as R3D Resources, changed its name to Tartana Minerals in April 2024. Tartana Minerals is based in Sydney, Australia.
Tartana Minerals has reported the following resources:
- 45,000 contained copper at 0.45 percent copper in combined inferred and indicated resources in the Tartana open pit and northern oxide zone
- 39,000 tonnes of contained zinc at 5.29 percent zinc in inferred resources in the Queen Grade project, also located on the Tartana mining leases, and
- 415 koz contained gold at 0.34 g/t in inferred resources at Mountain Maid – subject to a mining lease application.
These copper, zinc and gold resources remain open at depth and along strike and the company has designed drilling programs to expand these resources. In particular, the copper mineralisation and potentially the gold mineralisation have scope to be upgraded through ore sorting.
However, the refurbished heap leach – solvent extraction – crystallisation plant utilises existing copper in the ponds and the heaps and these copper sources will be replenished when we commence mining from the open pit.
The first and second shipments of copper sulphate were sold during the June 2024 quarter with further shipments are currently being prepared. The copper sulphate contains 25 percent copper metal and payment is based on the LME copper price for the preceding month plus a premium. It is one of the few forms of saleable copper where the copper content receives the full LME price.
Sprinklers operating on the lower heap. Note the presence of copper (blue).Exploration
Chillagoe region of Far North Queensland is highly prospective with the discovery and development of a number of key projects over the last few decades including Red Dome (2.5 Moz gold), Mungana (1.2 Moz gold), and King Vol (250 kt zinc). These deposits occur along the Palmerville Fault in a similar location to the Tartana Mining leases.
The mining leases at Tartana contain copper, zinc and gold mineralisation but the company also has significant projects which are both east and west of the Palmerville Fault. In the west it has the Cardross and Mountain Maid copper-gold projects and further north it has the Beefwood project. Mountain Maid has gold resources mentioned above and which are open to the south and at depth while the company is finalising a maiden copper resource for the Cardross project. The Beefwood project comprises a buried geophysical target and surface sampling has recovered samples grading up to 180 g/t Au with no apparent source. Drilling is planned to test this target in the current dry season.
In the east of the Palmerville Fault, the company has the Bellevue/Dry River project, the OK South project and the Dimbulah Porphyry project, all copper projects with historic copper mines and prospects. Like many parts of Far North Queensland, historical exploration has not been systematic and thorough despite many promising expressions of surface mineralisation.
Tartana’s exploration team comprises of experienced exploration geologists with supporting cash flow from their copper production, they expect to be able drill the most promising targets in the short term.
Strong Macroeconomic Environment for Copper
Overall, the macroeconomic environment for copper remains strong. The LME three-month copper price hit US$5.24/lb on May 17, the highest since March 7, 2022, driven by a weaker US dollar, Chinese property stimulus measures, and a short squeeze on the Chicago Mercantile Exchange futures market.
In the near-to-mid term China’s demand for refined copper is expected to grow, due to better-than-expected performances from key consumer segments, including the power grid, solar installations and electric vehicle and air conditioning appliance sales. On the supply side the copper concentrate market is expected to remain in a significant deficit due to the estimated delay in the Cobre Panama mine restart but will be partially offset by the higher projected production from smelters in China. As a result, we see further demand growth and supply tightening for the copper market as positive for base metal equities who maintain significant leverage to increasing prices.
Company Highlights
- Tartana Minerals is producing copper sulphate pentahydrate from its heap leach – solvent extraction – crystallisation plant in Chillagoe with a 100 percent offtake agreement with Kanins International.
- Copper sulphate is priced at a premium plus percentage of the LME copper price, providing exposure to the booming copper market
- With copper, zinc and gold resources in separate projects and all within granted or soon to be granted mining leases, the company is investigating processing options which can potentially utilise available infrastructure.
- Near-term catalysts include targetted drilling programs to increase the JORC resource and expand on metallurgical test work, increasing the resource grade and estimate
- With the copper sulphate plant fully commissioned and in production, the company is now accelerating its exploration activities. The company has a range of prospects from advanced brownfields projects near existing historical mines to many prospects containing ‘ore grade’ surface mineralisation which have not been tested at depth.
- The company’s exploration portfolio includes the Beefwood/Bulimba, Bellevue, Dimbulah, Cardross and Maid projects. The exploration team is focused on target generation, particularly with the addition of critical minerals within its existing tenure and elsewhere.
Management Team
Jihad Malaeb – Non-executive Chairman
Jihad Malaeb is an experienced entrepreneur across a number of industries, including hospitality and construction, as well as having significant experience in mineral exploration and mining operations – both as an active investor and company director. He currently owns and operates a portfolio of hospitality businesses and real estate across Australia, which have been established over the past 30 years. Malaeb was previously a non-executive director of Critical Resources (ASX:CRR), where he helped steer CRR through the past few years as one of its largest shareholders and as a board member.
Dr Stephen Bartrop - Managing Director
Steve Bartrop’s professional experience spans more than 30 years covering periods in both the mining industry and financial sector. With a geology background, Bartrop has worked in exploration, feasibility and evaluation studies and mining in a range of commodities and in different parts of the world. In the financial sector, he has been involved in research, corporate transactions and IPOs spanning more than 20 years, including senior roles at JPMorgan, Bankers Trust and Macquarie Equities.
Bartrop is also a director of Southwest Pacific Bauxite (HK), a company developing a bauxite project in the Solomon Islands and chairman of Breakaway Research.
Bruce Hills – Executive Director
Bruce Hills is an accountant and is currently an executive director of Breakaway Investment Group, which operates the Breakaway Private Equity Emerging Resources Fund. Hills is a director of a number of unlisted companies in the mining and financial services sectors including The Risk Board and Stibium Australia. Hills has 35 years’ experience in the financial sector including 20 years in the banking industry primarily in the areas of strategy, finance and risk.
Dr Alistair Lewis – Non-executive Director
Dr Alistair Lewis is a successful entrepreneur and highly experienced medical doctor with over 40 years’ experience. For the past 10 years Lewis has been involved in the management of mining and exploration companies. In 2017, Lewis established Oosen Lewis Mining in North Queensland. He financed the aggregation of a substantial portfolio of gold, tin, tungsten and antimony assets and instigated subsequent extensive exploration programs. These assets now form part of the QSM portfolio.
Michael Thirnbeck – Independent Non-executive Director
Michael Thirnbeck is an experienced geologist with over 25 years in managing numerous mineral development projects in Papua New Guinea, Indonesia and Australia. He has been a member of the Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy since 1989 and holds B.Sc (Hons.) degree from University of Queensland.
Shuyi (Kiara) Wang
Shuyi (Kiara) Wang was appointed a director of Tartana Minerals on July 17, 2024. Wang is an accomplished, emerging leader with a strong academic and professional background. She holds a Bachelor of Arts majoring in Philosophy from The University of Melbourne and is currently pursuing a Juris Doctor at the prestigious Melbourne Law School.
Dynasty Gold: Gold-focused Exploration with High-grade Gold Assets in Canada and the US
Dynasty Gold (TSXV:DYG) offers a compelling investment value proposition with its 100-percent-owned Thundercloud and Golden Repeat gold assets in Canada and the US. The company is advancing its key asset, the high-grade Thundercloud gold project, located in Northwest Ontario, Canada, a highly prospective property with significant exploration upside. The property was acquired from Teck Resources in 2021, with $10 million in previous exploration expenditure and an NI 43-101 resource estimate completed in December 2021.
The Thundercloud gold project is located in the Archean Manitou-Stormy Lakes Greenstone Belt in Ontario, Canada. Thundercloud spans 2,250 hectares and is part of the Wabigoon Subprovince, known for hosting several significant gold deposits. The project has been de-risked by the amount of drilling by Teck Resources in the 2000s. Dynasty has benefited from Teck’s datasets and is able to expedite its exploration and advance it to the current resource within two years from its maiden drill program on the property.
Historical drilling and exploration at Thundercloud have identified several zones of gold mineralization, with high-grade intercepts suggesting the presence of an extensive gold system
Company Highlights
- Dynasty Gold has two highly prospective, high-grade gold projects in North America - Thundercloud and Golden Repeat.
- The flagship Thundercloud project, acquired from Teck Resources in 2021 and with more than $10 million in previous exploration expenditures, is the current focus of Dynasty’s exploration and drilling program.
- Drilling and exploration work done by Dynasty to date has effectively increased the resource at Thundercloud from 187,000 ounces inferred to 232,000 ounces measured and indicated at a high grade of 8.04 g/t gold at 3.03 g/t cut-off, a possible open-pit operation. At 0.5 g/t cut-off, the project hosts 439,000 oz at 2.14 g/t. To date, more than 90 percent of the drill holes are less than 250 meters and 90 percent of the property has seen little drilling.
- Thundercloud is a brownfield project with extensive historical data, making it a lower-risk investment compared to other greenfield exploration projects.
- Dynasty’s second asset, the Golden Repeat gold project, is located within the Midas Gold Camp in Elko County, Nevada. The project is drill-ready with permits in place.
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Dynasty Gold
Investor Insight
With a portfolio of brownfield, high-grade gold assets with millions of dollars in exploration expenditures, Dynasty Gold stands apart from its peers and offers a compelling investment value proposition.
Overview
Dynasty Gold (TSX-V:DYG) is a Canadian mineral exploration and development company with two 100-percent-owned gold assets in Canada and the US: Thundercloud and Golden Repeat.
Dynasty Gold is currently focused on advancing its key asset, the high-grade Thundercloud gold project, located in Northwest Ontario, Canada, a highly prospective property with significant exploration upside. The property was acquired from Teck Resources in 2021, with $10 million in previous exploration expenditure and an NI 43-101 resource estimate completed in December 2021.
Its second exploration project, Golden Repeat, is located within the Midas Gold Camp in Elko County, Nevada. The project is drill-ready with permits in place.
Established in 2000 and headquartered in Vancouver, British Columbia, Dynasty Gold is led by a highly experienced management and technical team setting the company on a strategic path to success. Larry Kornze, the company’s VP of exploration, is credited for the discovery of Barrick's 40 million ounce gold deposit at the Betze Mine, on the Carlin Trend in Nevada. More than 50 percent of the company is owned by insiders and long-term shareholders, including Rob McEwen, Dynasty’s largest shareholder.
Company Highlights
- Dynasty Gold has two highly prospective, high-grade gold projects in North America - Thundercloud and Golden Repeat.
- The flagship Thundercloud project, acquired from Teck Resources in 2021 and with more than $10 million in previous exploration expenditures, is the current focus of Dynasty’s exploration and drilling program.
- Drilling and exploration work done by Dynasty to date has effectively increased the resource at Thundercloud from 187,000 ounces inferred to 232,000 ounces measured and indicated at a high grade of 8.04 g/t gold at 3.03 g/t cut-off, a possible open-pit operation. At 0.5 g/t cut-off, the project hosts 439,000 oz at 2.14 g/t. To date, more than 90 percent of the drill holes are less than 250 meters and 90 percent of the property has seen little drilling.
- Thundercloud is a brownfield project with extensive historical data, making it a lower-risk investment compared to other greenfield exploration projects.
- Dynasty’s second asset, the Golden Repeat gold project, is located within the Midas Gold Camp in Elko County, Nevada. The project is drill-ready with permits in place.
Key Projects
Thundercloud Project
The Thundercloud gold project is Dynasty Gold’s flagship asset, located in the Archean Manitou-Stormy Lakes Greenstone Belt in Ontario, Canada. The property spans 2,250 hectares and is part of the Wabigoon Subprovince, which is known for hosting several significant gold deposits. The project has been de-risked by the amount of drilling by Teck Resources in the 2000s. Dynasty has benefited from Teck’s datasets and is able to expedite its exploration and advance it to the current resource within two years from its maiden drill program on the property.
The project has seen various phases of exploration, including drilling, geophysics, and surface sampling, all of which highlight the presence of a high-grade gold deposit. Thundercloud comprises two main zones – Pelham and West Contact.
The project area is characterized by a mix of metavolcanic and metasedimentary rocks, which are favourable hosts for gold mineralization. The presence of extensive deformation, faulting and hydrothermal alteration within these rocks suggests a high potential for gold deposition. The gold mineralization at Thundercloud is primarily associated with shear zones and quartz-carbonate veins, typical of orogenic gold deposits. These types of deposits are known for their size and high-grade gold potential.
Thundercloud’s high-grade mineralization sets it apart from neighbouring gold projects with relatively lower grade gold intercepts, including NexGold’s Goliath and Goldlund gold projects with a resource of 1.5 Moz of gold at 1.5 g/t, and 2.3 Moz gold at 1.5 g/t, respectively. NexGold’s similar market valuation, highlights the market’s underappreciation of Dynasty Gold’s advanced-stage, higher-grade asset.
Historical drilling and exploration at Thundercloud have identified several zones of gold mineralization, with high-grade intercepts suggesting the presence of an extensive gold system. During the 2022 and 2023 drilling seasons the company successfully increased its non-compliant internal resource estimate to approximately 250,000 oz gold (this is an internally generated new model, which is not NI 43-101 compliant). The company aims to have an updated NI 43-101 Resource Estimate by the end of the year.
There are 87 drill holes for a total of approximately 16,793 meters of drilling within the Thundercloud database used to support the internal mineral resource estimation. Drill holes have intercepted mineralization at depths of up to 350 m below surface. Gold mineralisation has been defined along a strike length of 430 m and 150 m down-dip.
Pelham Zone
The Pelham Zone is the most advanced exploration target within the Thundercloud project. It is 47 m south-east of Dryden in Northwest Ontario. It has been the focus of much of the drilling and exploration efforts due to its substantial high-grade gold potential. During the 2022 exploration season, the discovery hole DP22-03 returned 8.42 g/t over 73.5 m including 6.5 m of 72.2 g/t. The zone is characterized by a series of east-west trending shear zones containing quartz-carbonate veins with visible gold. These shear zones are hosted within mafic metavolcanic rocks, which have undergone significant hydrothermal alteration.
West Contact Zone
The West Contact Zone is located to the southeast of the Pelham Zone. Limited drilling in the West Contact Zone has encountered gold mineralization associated with quartz veins and brecciated zones, with grades comparable to those found in the Pelham Zone. Further exploration is planned to expand on these initial findings. A rock chip sampling program was completed in the West Contact zone, an area immediately to the south of where Teck’s trenching data returned 8.02 g/t gold over 39 meters. The assay results from the program extended the mineralization by 30 meters. Total surface mineralization is 69 meters averaging 5.85 g/t gold. Follow-up drilling will start in September and October of this year.
2024 Summer and Fall Exploration Program
Dynasty completed approximately 2,200 meters of drilling in August 2024 to further delineate the resource. Drilling will continue in September. Assay results are pending.
Golden Repeat Project
The company owns 100 percent interest in the Golden Repeat gold property situated in the Midas region of Nevada. In summer 2011, Dynasty conducted a three-hole test drill program to follow up the Romarco drill program that was conducted in the 1990s. Assay results returned up to 3.4 g/t over 1.7 m gold and 44 g/t silver. Very little drilling has been done on Golden Repeat.
Management Team
Ivy Chong – President, CEO and Director
Ivy Chong has held senior executive positions in the mining and oil and gas industries since 1996. She was credited for closing several option and joint venture agreements with Teck, AngloGold Ashanti, Azimut, Avocet Mining, and many others. Chong has assisted multiple companies with their IPOs and raised capital for resource companies in Asia, Europe and North America. Prior to entering the resource industry, she worked for the Hong Kong Stock Exchange and Deloitte and Touche, LLP.
Roman Shklanka – Director
Roman Shklanka is an explorationist with over 45 years of international experience in the mining industry. His past positions include, chairman of Canico Resources, which was acquired by CVRD (Vale) in 2005; chairman of Sutton Resources, acquired by Barrick Gold Corporation; and vice-president of exploration for Placer Dome. He was responsible for the acquisition and exploration of numerous major mines, among them the Australian Granny Smith gold mine, Osbourne copper mine and the Kidston gold mine. He has received a number of achievement awards and was inducted into the Canadian Mining Hall of Fame in 2009.
Larry Kornze – VP Exploration and Director
Larry Kornze brings more than 30 years of international gold exploration experience. Kornze was credited with the discovery of Barrick's 40 million ounce gold deposit at the Betze Mine on the Carlin Trend in Nevada, in the late 80s. He was part of Barrick's team responsible for the discovery of the Miekle, Deepstar, Screamer and Rodeo deposits in Nevada. Kornze has held positions with Newmont and Getty Mining in North America, prior to joining Barrick Gold.
Richard Redfern – Director
Richard Redfern is a certified professional geologist and “qualified person” under NI 43-101 and a consultant with 35 years of exploration and mining industry experience worldwide. He held positions as senior exploration geologist with Barrick Gold in Mexico, VP Exploration for Goldstake Explorations in South Dakota and Australia, and has worked for Homestake Mining in the western United States. Redfern has extensive exploration experience in gold and porphyry-type prospects in the southwestern US, Mexico and British Columbia. He was instrumental in the recent discovery of the Moly Dome molybdenum-rhenium-gold-silver porphyry deposit in northern Nevada.
Grande Portage Resources: Advancing the High-grade Herbert Gold Project in Alaska
Grande Portage Resources (TSXV:GPG;OTCQB:GPTRF);OTCQB:GPTRF) is a publicly held junior resource company exclusively focused on exploring and developing gold assets in southeast Alaska. The company is advancing its 100 percent owned Herbert Gold project, situated approximately 25 km north of Juneau, Alaska, within the historic Juneau Gold Belt, which has produced over 7 million ounces of gold.
The Herbert Gold project has an updated mineral resource estimate of 1.44 million ounces at 9.47 g/pt gold indicated resource, and 515,700 ounces at 8.85 g/pt gold inferred resource.
Herbert Gold ProjectThe Herbert Gold project is an exploration stage, high-grade, mesothermal quartz vein system in the historic Juneau Gold Belt of southeast Alaska. Herbert consists of 91 unpatented lode claims located 25 km north of Juneau and to the south of Coeur Alaska's profitable Kensington gold mine. The property covers six parallel vein structures exposed at surface.
Grande Portage released an updated MRE on the project (2024) for 1.44 Moz (4.7 Mt at 9.5 g/t gold) and 0.5 Moz (1.8 Mt at 8.9 g/t gold) in the indicated and Inferred categories, respectively. The Herbert property remains open at depth and along strike. Overall, six or more promising gold-producing vein-fault structures that contain ribbon structures and quartz-sulfides are located on the property. Herbert Gold is one of Alaska's most promising districts and has remained remarkably underexplored.
Company Highlights
- Grande Portage Resources is a junior resource company advancing its high-grade Herbert Gold project, located in a prolific gold belt in Alaska.
- Strong management team led by Ian Klassen who has 20 years’ experience in business management, public relations and government affairs.
- The company’s flagship Herbert Gold project, located near Juneau, Alaska, boasts a resource of 1.44 million ounces at 9.47 g/pt gold, and inferred resource of 515,700 ounces at 8.85 g/pt gold.
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Aurum Hits 40m at 1.03 g/t Gold at Boundiali BD Target 1
Highlights
- Step-back diamond drilling (14 holes for 4,485m) at BD Target 1 on the Boundiali BD tenement returns shallow, wide gold hits1 including:
- 40m @ 1.03 g/t Au from 136m inc. 5m @ 1.70 g/t Au (DSDD0076)
- 11m @ 2.15 g/t Au from 169m inc. 4m @ 4.14 g/t Au &
- 10m @ 2.02 g/t Au from 322m inc. 2m @ 9.18 g/t Au (DSDD0062)
- Gold mineralisation remains open at BD Target 1; along strike and down dip with mineralisation intersected down to 385m below surface
- Induced Polarisation (IP) survey (2.8km by 4.5km) completed at BD Target 1 to optimise drill targeting
- Actively drilling at BD Target 2 and Boundiali BM tenement; assay results expected soon
- Aurum is now utilising a second assay lab to improve assay turnaround time
- Two more diamond rigs (capable of drilling 900m downhole) have arrived, increasing Aurum’s fleet to six; drilling rate to reach ~10,000m per month (targeting 45,000m for CY2024)
- Initial Mineral Resource Estimate for Boundiali targeted for late CY2024
- Aurum is well-funded (~$20M) for continued aggressive exploration.
Aurum’s Managing Director Dr. Caigen Wang said: “We're delighted with another shallow, wide gold intercept at BD Target 1. Gold mineralisation remains open along strike and at depth, with intersects as deep as 385m below surface. Every hole we drill helps us understand the controls on the high-grade gold shoots we find within these wider intercepts.
The new IP survey and structural data are guiding our drill targeting. With two new NOCK1300 diamond drill rigs operational, we're eager to test BD Target 1 down to approximately 900m.
With six rigs on site, we expect to achieve ~10,000m drilling per month, systematically exploring the full potential of the 13km by 3km target zone at BD and our other tenements within the Boundiali gold project. We're also improving our operations with new vehicles, a centralised camp, and we are using a second laboratory to enhance efficiency and assay turnaround times.
We're well-funded with ~$20 million cash at bank, allowing us to accelerate drilling and build on these encouraging results. We're targeting an inaugural JORC resource for Boundiali by late 2024.”
BD Target 1 - Latest Drill Results
Assay results reported in this release include 14 holes (4,485m) drilled at BD Target 1, which remains open with further drilling planned. More significant assay results for these holes2 include:
- 40m @ 1.03 g/t Au from 136m inc. 5m @ 1.70 g/t Au (DSDD0076)
- 11m @ 2.15 g/t Au from 169m inc. 4m @ 4.14 g/t Au &
- 10m @ 2.02 g/t Au from 322m inc. 2m @ 9.18 g/t Au (DSDD0062)
These new results are in addition to diamond holes drilled by Aurum at BD Target 1 and reported previously on 1 March 2024, 12 March 2024, 10 May 2024, 28 May 2024 and 17 June 2024, which include multiple +50 gold gram meter intervals over a 300m strike and down to an average depth of 200m (Table 1).
Table 1: Significant Intersections BD Target 1 over 300m strike
These shallow wide high-grade gold intercepts are predominately from the hanging wall lodes at BD target 1 and true widths are estimated at about 70% - 80% of reported downhole lengths.
Details of drill collar location and assay results for the new drilling on BD Target 1 are in Table 2 and Table 3 respectively. Plans showing Boundiali Gold Project location including assay results are presented in (Figure 1 to Figure 3). A cross section showing the latest drill results is presented in Figure 4.
Gold mineralisation remains open along strike and at depth on all prospects, with drilling ongoing and further work being planned. Aurum has prioritized a number of IP defined targets to define additional high priority targets for drill testing within the 2.8km by 4.5km IP surveyed area but sitting outside of currently drilled gold prospects.
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This article includes content from Aurum Resources Limited, licensed for the purpose of publishing on Investing News Australia. This article does not constitute financial product advice. It is your responsibility to perform proper due diligence before acting upon any information provided here. Please refer to our full disclaimer here.
+95% Gold and Antimony Recoveries at Auld Creek
Highlights
- Three metallurgical samples from Auld Creek were tested for gold and antimony recoveries at ALS in Perth.
- All three samples gave excellent gold flotation recoveries ranging from 95-98%.
- Antimony recoveries are modest (around 64-90%) using copper sulphate as an activator.
- Changing from copper sulphate to lead nitrate as an activator boosted antimony recovery from 71% to 97%.
- The rougher concentrate grade for the lead nitrate test was 44.8g/t Au and 13.2% Sb. Cleaning tests are expected to enhance these grades further.
- Additional optimisation work using lead nitrate as an activator is expected to commence in Q4 of CY2024.
Siren Managing Director and CEO, Victor Rajasooriar commented:
” These are excellent results as we progress our Reefton gold and antimony projects into the future. The commodity pricing outlooks for both metals are excellent and the introduction of antimony as a critical mineral brings additional potential benefits to New Zealand. We are now in the final stages of completing our Auld Creek mineral resource calculations following the drilling program earlier this year and expect to have that completed in the coming weeks. Concurrently, additional metallurgical testwork will be carried out to optimise the recoveries of antimony at Auld Creek.”
Background
Three metallurgical samples were collected from Auld Creek diamond core within the Fraternal Shoot to test for both gold and antimony recoveries into a flotation concentrate. The samples were delivered to ALS Perth in May 2024 for a range of metallurgical tests under the supervision of metallurgist Graham Brock (Leo Consulting Ltd).
AC001 was collected from the top of the shoot that has little or no antimony. AC002 was collected from the middle of the shoot with high grade gold and antimony and AC003 was collected to represent the average resource gold and antimony grades (Table 1 and Figure 1).
Table 1. Auld Creek Metallurgical samples
Figure 1. Long section showing the location of the metallurgical samples (white circles).
AC001 Flotation Tests
Three tests were conducted on the low-grade antimony sample AC001. Test 1 was a standard kinetic rougher test giving a 95.8% recovery of the gold into the rougher concentrate at a grade of 51.2 g/t Au. Antimony recovery was also high, but the head grade was low at 0.05%.
Tests 2 and 3 were kinetic cleaner tests; Test 2 had no regrind and Test 3 included a regrind step. Test 2 produced a high-grade concentrate assaying 120.6g/t Au and Test 3 produced a grade of 136.6g/t Au. Gold recoveries were 91.9% in Test 2 and 87.7% in Test 3.
In summary, if this material was fed to a flotation concentrator 6% by weight would go to a 51g/t Au concentrate at 95.8% gold recovery. To reduce transport costs a cleaner circuit could be introduced such that for a small loss of recovery only 2.6% by weight at a grade of 120g/t Au could be produced. Testing showed little benefit in the regrind step.
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This article includes content from Siren Gold, licensed for the purpose of publishing on Investing News Australia. This article does not constitute financial product advice. It is your responsibility to perform proper due diligence before acting upon any information provided here. Please refer to our full disclaimer here.
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