Far East Gold Ltd (ASX:FEG, OTC:FEGDF) is set to embark on a new phase of scout drilling at its Woyla Copper-Gold Project in Indonesia, with a focus on the Victory vein within the high-priority Aloe Rek prospect.
Past results increase confidence
These activities follow the company's extended resource delineation campaign at Rek Rinti and are bolstered by some handy historical results from earlier campaigns at Aloe Rek by companies such as Newcrest and Barrick.
The company has deployed a drill rig for a 1,500-metre diamond drill program across nine holes, aimed at exploring the Victory vein over a 500-metre strike length to a depth of some 120 metres.
This exploration effort seeks to unlock the potential of the Aloe Rek area, which is 1.5 kilometres south of the Aloe Eumpeuk prospect, the site of some historical high-grade gold and silver findings.
Victory target
The Victory vein, initially identified by Barrick in 1997 as a priority target, is known for its complex quartz lenses and veinlets across more than a kilometre of strike within a zone of argillic altered andesite.
Previous exploration, including work by Newcrest in 1998, highlighted the vein's epithermal system characteristics, such as bladed quartz and colloform quartz-adularia banding.
Far East Gold's recent soil sampling and trench assays have further delineated the vein's gold-arsenic anomaly with some strong gold and silver assays reported from both historical and recent analyses.
Exploration at Aloe Rek supports the interpretation of a mid to high-level, low-sulphidation, epithermal vein system, evidenced by the presence of high-grade gold and silver in samples collected from artisanal mining pits.
The geochemical and petrographic studies suggest the prospect's potential for significant mineralisation, underpinned by favourable homogenisation temperatures and low salinity levels indicating a conducive environment for high-grade mineral deposits.
"A remarkable first"
“We are extremely excited at the prospect of drills turning at Aloe Rek,” CEO Shane Menere said.
“This milestone will be yet another remarkable first for us at Woyla.
“It is incredible to think it is nearly 27 years to the day from when Barrick had hoped to commence drilling at its priority target, Aloe Rek and that Far East Gold will make this happen.
“Our decision to commence this new phase of scout drilling was made based upon the excellent exploration results to date and gives us economies of scale to leverage the resources still on-site working on the extended resource delineation program at Rek Rinti.”
About Woyla
The Woyla Copper-Gold Project, covering 24,260 hectares in North Sumatra, Indonesia, represents a strategic focus for the company as it continues to explore and develop its potential for significant copper and gold resources.
Far East Gold, with a portfolio spanning across Australia and Indonesia, holds a 51% interest in the project, which stands to increase to 80% upon the completion of a feasibility study and the definition of a maiden JORC resource estimate.
Main image: Grab samples of Aloe Rek vein material in artisanal mining pits.