Alkane Resources Ltd (ASX:ALK, OTC:ALKEF) has unearthed new zones of gold mineralisation at its Tomingley Gold Operations in central west New South Wales, with underground drilling revealing a second mineralised andesite at the McLeans deposit and continued high-grade results from Roswell’s Western Monzodiorite domain.
The company said the results reinforce Tomingley’s strong potential for further resource growth.
“Most of Tomingley’s deposits are open at depth and along strike,” said Alkane managing director Nic Earner. “This drilling further demonstrates not only the significant resource expansion potential across the mine site but the potential to discover other deposits.
“Our underground and surface drill programs throughout Tomingley continue,” he added. “We look forward to continuing to add further resources and mine life.”
New discovery at McLeans
Underground diamond drilling at McLeans, located adjacent to existing infrastructure, has confirmed a second andesite host with significant gold grades about 150 metres west of the current resource.
The program comprised nine diamond holes for 3,247 metres, designed to improve confidence in the existing Inferred Resource — estimated at 0.87 million tonnes at 2.51 g/t gold for 70,000 ounces.
Notable intercepts from the newly identified western andesite include:
- 26 metres at 4.36 g/t gold from 112 metres, including 3.3 metres at 22.8 g/t from 112.7 metres (MCLUG013D).
- 10.7 metres at 2.09 g/t from 105 metres (MCLUG012D).
- 8 metres at 2.33 g/t from 113 metres, including 0.8 metres at 14.4 g/t from 118 metres (MCLUG011D).
- 7.8 metres at 3.46 g/t from 120 metres, including 1 metre at 10.1 g/t from 126 metres (MCLUG006D).
Drilling into the eastern andesite, which hosts the existing McLeans Inferred Resource, also produced strong results, such as:
- 0.5 metres at 38.9 g/t gold from 332.5 metres (MCLUG010D).
- 8 metres at 4.38 g/t from 320 metres, including 2 metres at 12.6 g/t from 320 metres (MCLUG007D).
Alkane said further drilling is planned to test both andesite units and to include the new western zone in the next McLeans resource update.
Strong grades continue at Roswell
At the nearby Roswell deposit, an intensive underground core drilling campaign continues to return multiple wide, high-grade intercepts from the Western Monzodiorite domain — a key growth area of the Tomingley mine.
The program, comprising 89 holes for 18,064 metres, aims to infill the existing drill pattern to a 15-by-20-metre grid to upgrade Inferred Resources to Indicated classification.
Recent highlights include:
- 12.1 metres at 5.44 g/t gold from 115.3 metres (ROSUG430D).
- 6.5 metres at 8.03 g/t from 166.5 metres, including 0.9 metres at 37.3 g/t from 171.6 metres (ROSUG440D).
- 3.9 metres at 12.2 g/t from 160.1 metres, including 1.2 metres at 25.4 g/t from 162 metres (ROSUG442D).
- 7.9 metres at 14.6 g/t from 154 metres, including 1.1 metres at 84.4 g/t from 154 metres (ROSUG584D).
- 9.5 metres at 4.73 g/t from 170 metres (ROSUG595D).
Alkane said final results from the current Roswell program would be released once all assays have been received and compiled.
Ongoing exploration and next steps
Surface exploration drilling is set to begin in November to test the underground potential at Wyoming Three, extensions north of Caloma and a deep structural target beneath Roswell identified by 2D seismic.
Underground drilling also continues across the Tomingley mine site as Alkane advances its strategy to extend mine life and define new resources around existing deposits.
Tomingley, about 50 kilometres southwest of Dubbo, has been in operation since 2014 and currently sources ore from the Wyoming One, Caloma, Caloma Two and Roswell deposits.
Alkane said the latest exploration results demonstrate the company’s ongoing success in expanding resources at Tomingley while maintaining steady production from its established underground operations.