Great Boulder Resources Ltd (ASX:GBR)’s recent exploration activities at the Side Well Gold Project near Meekatharra in Western Australia are bearing more fruit.
The company has conducted auger data analysis from Ironbark North and South that indicates a large hydrothermal gold camp comparable in size to the Paddy’s Flat gold camp stretching over 12 kilometres of strike.
New targets
In September, GBR defined a series of new exploration targets in the area between Ironbark and the southern tenement boundary, representing a breakthrough in the company’s regional exploration program.
The new targets highlight the potential scale of gold mineralisation along the eastern limb of the syncline, comparable in strike extent to the Paddy’s Flat gold camp hosted on the western limb.
GBR has now completed infill auger sampling over the Ironbark South grid with more than 1,300 auger samples collected at a 200 by 50-metre grid cell size.
In addition, rock chip samples of up to 7 g/t gold confirm prospectivity at Ironbark South.
Drill results
The company has also received high-grade gold assays from Phase 6 RC drilling at Mulga Bill, including 8 metres at 6.51 g/t gold from 96 metres.
Meanwhile, at Ironbark, there have been further shallow intersections in reverse circulation (RC) drilling, including:
- 24 metres at 1.19 g/t gold from 68 metres; and
- 4 metres at 1.15 g/t from surface.
The additional data density has confirmed and refined the new targets, which will be tested by aircore drilling in 2023.
Great Boulder managing director Andrew Paterson said: “These are the final batches of assays from RC drilling at Mulga Bill and Ironbark. We have demobilised the rig to give our field team a chance to complete geological mapping down the eastern side of Side Well including Ironbark and Ironbark South.
“We have priority drill targets for the next round of drilling, including the new eastern zone at Mulga Bill as well as depth and strike extensions at Ironbark. We will also be testing further extensions of the HGV area at Mulga Bill, looking to extend the HGV along strike to the north and south.
“The infill auger sampling south of Ironbark has provided increased definition on multiple targets. Further assessment of all the data by Dr Scott Halley supports our long-standing view that we are starting to uncover a significant hydrothermal gold camp which is comparable in scale to the Meekatharra gold camp with a 12-kilometre-long strike footprint. This represents an opportunity of enormous untested potential.
“We have also started fine-tuning mineralisation wireframes for Mulga Bill and Ironbark in preparation for a maiden mineral resource estimate in the first quarter of 2023. That estimate will be an important step for Great Boulder as it will draw a line under the work we have already done and provide a clear benchmark for the potential of current and untested target areas.”
Next steps
The company’s field team has commenced geological mapping of structure and stratigraphy from Ironbark to the southern tenement boundary to improve the company’s understanding of the Polelle Syncline.
This mapping will assist in prioritising new areas for further exploration.
The team will also start mapping north from Ironbark in an ongoing program, as time permits.
Regional auger sampling over the eastern stratigraphy, including the area north of Ironbark, will continue to infill the previous 400-by-50-metre grid to 200-by-50-metre coverage.
The geological team is also working to incorporate recent drilling results into the mineralisation models for Mulga Bill and Ironbark in order to update and refine wireframes of all mineralisation defined to date.
These wireframes will be used as the basis for a maiden mineral resource estimate that the company is aiming to finalise during the first quarter of 2023.