White Cliff Minerals Ltd (ASX:WCN) has identified new gold mineralisation zones at the Aucu gold deposit in Kyrgyz Republic in Asia.
131 samples taken from zones exposed in the process of bulldozing roads have identified new mineralisation including 2 metres at 9 g/t gold, 1 metre at 12 g/t gold and 4 metres at 1.4% copper.
Three of the new mineralised zones identified represent a single mineralised lode intersected along 150 metres of strike.
The fourth mineralised zone represents a new structure which is rich in copper.
White Cliff recently completed their first diamond drill hole as part of the 2016 exploration program focussed on drilling out the eastern upper gold zone (UGZE) at Aucu.
Aucu gold deposit
The 89% owned Aucu gold deposit is located in the Kyrgyz Republic, which is a democratic republic bordering Kazakhstan and western China.
The company announced a maiden inferred resource for the Aucu gold deposit above a cut-off grade of 1 g/t gold of 1.15 million tonnes grading 4.2 g/t gold for 156,000 ounces of contained gold.
In 2015, drilling identified exceptional gold mineralisation east of this resource in the UGZE over a strike length of at least 500 metres.
Results included 8 metres at 55.2 g/t gold and 4 metres at 59.9 g/t gold.
Overall metallurgical recovery of all mineralised zones discovered at Aucu is 99% with gravity recoverable gold averages of 88.6%.
2016 Drill Program
The diamond drill rig is currently drilling the second hole of a 5,000 metre program.
The company is assessing the viability of procuring a second rig to accelerate the drill program.
Drilling is currently targeting the UGZE where the average grade of mineralisation intersected in the 2015 drill program was 45 g/t gold.
Drilling is focused on an 800 metre long section of the UGZE to a maximum vertical depth of 200 metres.
The exploration target for the UGZE in 2016 is 1-2 million tonnes at 15-30 g/t for 500,000 to 1.2 million ounces of gold.
This exploration target is based on the average grade of previous drill intersections completed in the UGZE in 2015.
Analysis
The results of the channel sampling represent 131 samples of a total of 388 samples collected to date, meaning more assays are expected.
While the focus at Aucu is the drill program currently in progress, the discovery of new gold and copper zones by sampling bulldozer road cuttings is an added exploration bonus.
The discovery of a zone potentially mineralised with copper has the opportunity to add new value to the Aucu project.
Further access tracks are to be bulldozed and it is anticipated additional surface mineralised zones will be identified.
With drilling in motion and further samples at the lab, White Cliff is leveraged to continuous exploration news flow.
The first completed diamond drill hole encountered three mineralised zones and assays are expected within three weeks.
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