Aurumin Ltd (ASX:AUN) has the reverse circulation (RC) drill spinning in a new campaign at the 881,000-ounce Central Sandstone Project in WA as the company seeks to take resources at the Sandstone Gold Operations beyond 1 million ounces.
The company plans to test up to nine new open pit targets in the RC program of around 40 holes for approximately 4,000 metres with all targets on mining leases and within 3 kilometres of the processing plant footprint.
This first-pass exploration drilling is targeting multiple depositional models and styles including porphyry/intrusive hosted vein style, banded iron hosted and structural shear-style hosted mineralisation in mafic and ultramafic units.
“Excited to be back on ground”
“Following recent corporate activity where we have divested the Mt Dimer mining tenements, cleared the remaining balance of the convertible note, successfully raised capital for drilling and repositioned the company for growth, we are excited to be back on the ground and drilling these outstanding targets," Aurumin's managing director Brad Valiukas said:
“We are investing into our flagship 946,000-ounce Sandstone Gold Operations and this work aligns directly with our focus on the Central Sandstone Project and generating the critical mass required for future production, starting with open pits.”
Central Sandstone is 520 kilometres northeast of Perth and is part of Aurumin’s Sandstone Operations, which includes the Birrigrin and Johnson Range projects, and has a total resource of 946,000 ounces.
Targets at Sandstone with the current drill targets in red.
RC targets
Targets to be tested in the RC program are Two Mile West, Shillington Footwall BIF, Mt Klempt South, Mt Kempt North, Old Town Trend, Ridge North, Ridge West, Nugget Patch Intrusive Target and Hatton.
At Two Mile West, a 600-metre-long gold anomaly generated by auger geochemistry sampling conducted in 2022, a broad, cohesive, gold in soil anomaly tracks east-west across the northern slopes of two banded iron formation (BIF) ridges.
An initial program of six holes is planned to target multiple BIF horizons with a focus on the north-striking structural corridors and granodiorite intrusion interpreted as a potential control of gold mineralisation.
Outcrop mapping and geophysical datasets confirm a second, lower, banded iron unit, the Shillington Footwall BIF, about 100 metres into the footwall of the banded iron sequence that hosts the Shillington orebody (upper BIF).
This horizon is believed to be the source of several areas of extensive prospector activity and remains poorly explored by drilling.
The Shillington-Two Mile Hill Complex is the largest resource/endowment on the Central Sandstone Mining Leases and an initial drilling program is planned to target where the Shillington structural controls are interpreted to penetrate the footwall BIF unit.
Targets from auger program
Aurumin’s 2022 auger program confirmed a strong gold anomaly at Mt Klempt South, which coincides with areas of extensive prospector activity and some historical workings.
An initial program of six holes is planned to test the relationship between the shear-type mineralisation and the interpreted intrusive, and potential mineralisation of the intrusive itself.
This target is 1.5 kilometres east of the Sandstone Mill and 1 kilometre west of the Ridge and McClaren deposits.
Mt Kempt North was also identified in the 2022 auger program, which highlighted a strong broad geochemical gold anomaly surrounded by prospector scrapings.
Initial drilling will target shear and quartz vein-style mineralisation, on northerly and north-easterly orientations, around historical RAB anomalies.
A short program of five holes is planned to test Old Town Well trend target, another identified in the auger program, at the intersection zone and change in strike of the iron beds relating to the overall fold geometry in the banded iron beds.
At Ridge North planned drilling consists of three holes testing fold hinge and high strain positions, and interpreted projection of northeast and north striking structural corridors while at Ridge West planned drilling consists of three holes orientated to test for NNE structural model and aims to delineate high-grade lode-style mineralisation.
A short program of holes is planned to test the Nugget Patch Intrusive Target and to further investigate the gold in quartz veining previously intercepted in RAB drilling.
At Hatton planned drilling will consist of three holes testing the interpreted intrusive unit as the source of the geochemical anomaly, potentially analogous to the nearby Two Mile Hill tonalite intrusive.