White Cliff Minerals (ASX:WCN) has completed the access road between its exploration camp and drill target, the high-grade Quartz Zone at the Aucu Gold Project in Kyrgyz Republic.
The company is currently completing drill rig access tracks at 50-metre intervals along the untested 200+ metre strike extension of the Quartz Zone.
The tracks are expected to be completed in the next few weeks, after which the bulldozer will then clear multiple drill pads in preparation for drilling.
The Quartz Zone appears to extend at least 200 metres further south-east of the existing drilling.
Outcropping mineralised shear zones occur in a track cutting 50 metres south-east of the existing drilling with channel sample assay results of 2 metres at 5.4 g/t and 1 metre at 0.7 g/t gold within sandstone.
Drill program details
Phase one drilling at the Quartz Zone consists of 15 holes for circa 1200 metres of reverse circulation drilling.
The drilling is targeting the Quartz Zone structure along strike from the existing drilling which defined an inferred resource of 244,000 tonnes at 9.5 g/t containing 75,000 ounces gold.
Once the strike extent of the Quartz Zone has been defined White Cliff will drill a series of deeper holes to test the mineralisation at depth.
White Cliff is currently finalising a drilling contract with contractor Geostandart LLC which has a 15 year history in the Kyrgyz Republic.
Heavy spring flooding and snow melt initially hampered project access during May but the exploration camp has now been established.
Aucu Gold Project
During April 2017, White Cliff posted a 93% increase to its JORC resource at its 90% owned Aucu gold project located in the Kyrgyz Republic of central Asia.
The high-grade Aucu gold deposit now stands at 1.8 million tonnes grading 5.2 g/t gold for 302,000 ounces of gold.
The new resource estimate represents a 23% increase in gold grade and also includes a Inferred copper resource of 608,000 tonnes grading 0.64% copper for 3,870 tonnes of copper.
Importantly the new resource contains a high-grade zone referred to as the Quartz Zone of 244,000 tonnes at 9.5 g/t gold containing 75,000 ounces of gold which starts at surface.
A new inferred copper resource was also identified above a cut-off grade of 0.25% copper of 608,000 tonnes at 0.64% copper containing 3,870 tonnes of copper.