Having wrapped up the first phase of reverse circulation (RC) drilling, Pantoro Ltd has fielded positive gold results at the Hinemoa Fault on the Polar Bear peninsula, a key target within its Norseman Gold Project in Western Australia.
First campaign
The initial drilling campaign tested a one-kilometre strike length of historic workings at Hinemoa and confirmed high-grade mineralisation in several shallow-plunging shoots, consistent with other Norseman deposits.
Key intersections from the program include:
- 6 metres at 14.07 g/t gold from 30 metres, including 1 metre at 24.5 g/t gold;
- 6 metres at 3.56 g/t gold from 34 metres;
- 3 metres at 6.39 g/t gold from 51 metres;
- 3 metres at 3.41 g/t gold from 1 metre; and
- 4 metres at 3.53 g/t gold from 64 metres.
The Norseman Gold Project is in the Eastern Goldfields of Western Australia within the highly productive Norseman-Wiluna greenstone belt.
Since acquiring the project in 2019, Pantoro has drilled over 300,000 metres, defined ore reserves of 958,000 ounces, constructed a new 1.2-million-tonne-per-annum gold processing plant, and restarted production across open pit and underground operations.
Deposits at depth, along strike
Norseman has a total mineral resource of 4.8 million ounces of gold, with many deposits open at depth and along strike.
The project spans some 70 kilometres of the greenstone belt and has produced over 5.5 million ounces of gold since mining started there back in 1935.
The company’s growth strategy includes expanding underground operations and scale production from 100,000 ounces per annum to over 200,000 ounces per annum.
It remains focused on near-term mining opportunities, with active drilling programs targeting further resource growth at Norseman.
Further potential at Polar Bear
The Polar Bear peninsula, 22 kilometres north of the Norseman Gold Plant, has a history of intermittent shallow gold mining since the 1890s.
Mineralisation has been associated with the contact between mafic host rocks and overlying sediments.
Previous exploration by Central Norseman Gold Corporation revealed strong geological parallels between Polar Bear and the Mararoa Reef (Mainfield), which historically produced 1.2 million ounces of gold.
The early mining activities focused on shallow shafts, typically 10-50 metres deep, and often encountered barren quartz reef at surface levels.
Deeper exploration historically unlocked stronger gold, and this gives the company confidence in the potential for further discoveries – indeed, recent drilling has identified multiple mineralised zones with plunging orientations similar to other deposits at Norseman.
Pantoro has planned follow-up drilling, including diamond drilling, to test deeper targets.