Impact Minerals (ASX:IPT) has extended sulphide mineralisation by up to 50 metres in the first two drill holes of follow up drilling at the Silica Hill gold-silver discovery within the Commonwealth project located near Orange, New South Wales.
The preliminary observations from the first two holes in the planned 2,000 metre program shows mineralisation comprises multiple narrow veins and veinlets together with disseminated sulphides in the rock surrounding the veins.
Readings with a portable XRF instrument on both holes indicate silver mineralisation grades of more than 100 g/t occurs in many places both in the veins and the surrounding rock.
Visually significant mineralisation has now been intersected in six drill holes so far at Silica Hill with an average true thickness of between 50 metres and 70 metres.
Assays for the two drill holes are expected by late January.
Drilling at Silica Hill
The latest two holes follow up the original four holes, which assayed:
- 74.5 metres at 1.2 g/t gold and 106 g/t silver or 2.9 g/t gold equivalent from 61 metres;
- 48.6 metres at 0.5 g/t gold and 137 g/t silver or 2.5 g/t gold equivalent from 122 metres;
- 68 metres at 0.5 g/t gold and 43 g/t silver or 1.3 g/t gold equivalent from 99 metres; and
- 39 metres at 0.3 g/t gold and 16 g/t silver from 5 metres.
Grades within these intersections measured up to 3,600 g/t silver and 23 g/t gold.
The current drill program, which will comprise up to 2,000 metres of diamond and reverse circulation drilling is designed to test for extensions to this mineralisation as well as further depth extensions to the Commonwealth deposit centred about 200 metres south west of Silica Hill.
Drilling has now ceased for the Christmas period and will recommence in early February. Statutory approvals are still awaited for some of the drill holes and it is anticipated these will be granted in January.
Analysis
Visually significant mineralisation has now been intersected in six drill holes so far at Silica Hill, over an area of 200 metres by 100 metres down to a depth of 120 metres below surface.
The mineralisation is open in all directions including up-dip and is terminated by a fault suggesting further mineralisation may have been offset.
Assays will be highly anticipated by the market and keeps Impact leveraged to exploration based news flow over the short term.
The style and nature of mineralisation in discovered at Silica Hill is similar to that encountered within the Commonwealth deposit.
This demonstrates that the mineralisation at the two prospects is part of one larger system and may be linked at depth.