Lunnon Metals Ltd (ASX:LM8, OTC:LNMLF) has identified a new gold zone at surface at the Lady Herial prospect within the Kambalda Gold and Nickel Project in Western Australia as the company continues to deliver significant, near surface, high-grade intercepts from diamond and in-fill reverse circulation (RC) drilling.
The Kambalda/St Ives gold camp is one of Australia’s most prolific gold production and discovery centres.
“New opportunities just keep opening up at Lady Herial,” said Lunnon managing director Edmund Ainscough.
“Just when we think we have found the limits on one structure; the next set of results identifies new mineralised zones we didn’t know about in otherwise poorly tested areas.
“Our goal is to define all the near surface gold mineralisation as quickly as possible so that open pit evaluation can commence.
“However, some of these zones will need follow-up drilling at depth and along strike to understand how large the ultimate opportunity is on the multiple parallel structures we are finding at Lady Herial.”
Lunnon has identified two, thick, parallel mineralised structures at Lady Herial, spaced around 50-60 metres apart and both dipping north-west at 30 degrees. Mineralisation was recorded on both these structures and the company is updating the geological model as assays are received.
High-grade results
Lunnon has intersected new zones of very high-grade gold between the Upper and Lower Structures and in the footwall below the Lower Structure.
Results included 13 metres at 4.10g/t gold from three metres between the two structures,
In the footwall of the Lower Structure, the best gold result drilled by Lunnon Metals to date was recorded at 23 metres at 16.61g/t gold from surface — eclipsing last week’s 18 metres at 5.27g/t gold.
This new zone hosted one metre at 350 g/t gold, which amounts to over 10 ounces of gold per tonne, included within six metres at 62.47g/t gold (above 1.0 g/t gold cut-off).
Lunnon says that this zone, in particular, warrants follow up as there is little to no previous drilling in the immediate vicinity, particularly to the south and east.
Additional new gold zones intersected
The company notes that new zones of very high-grade gold have also been intersected potentially outside these structures, with one hole hosting Lunnon’s best gold intercept recorded to date of 23 metres at 16.61g/t gold.
Given the very shallow depths at which the gold mineralisation starts and the widths of the mineralisation recorded in the current program, Lunnon says Lady Herial continues to present as a priority prospect to meet its strategic objectives for gold; namely “to define shallow, high-grade mineralisation capable of being rapidly drilled, modelled, optimised and, if warranted, commercialised”.
Once the remaining assays are received, Lunnon will complete geological modelling and open pit optimisations to determine whether it can report an initial mineral resource.
A second potential discovery
Lady Herial has the potential to be Lunnon’s second discovery, following the high-grade, near surface, Baker nickel discovery in 2022.
The company’s management team has extensive local geological and operating knowledge, maximising the chances of making discoveries that can be brought to production quickly with modest capital.
Lunnon’s current strategy aims to leverage any such discoveries with the region's existing processing capacity and together with its existing strong cash balance, thereby fund the ongoing pursuit of tier 1 deposits in one of Australia’s most prolific gold belts.