Meteoric Resources NL (ASX:MEI) is ready to begin a new 21-hole diamond drilling program at its Novo Astro Gold Project in Brazil, with the GEOSOL diamond drill rig and crew now onsite.
The 2,500-metre program, which is expected to begin on Wednesday, October 2, will focus on four primary targets selected based on geological mapping, artisanal workings, soil geochemistry and grab sampling.
Further work planned as part of this program includes geophysics programs incorporating magnetotellurics, either a ground-magnetic or drone-magnetic survey as well as further investigation of downhole electromagnetics.
The mobilisation of field crews, equipment and a geophysicist for this work is expected in early November.
Two rigs mobilised
Diamond drilling at the Juruena project is also progressing, with two rigs completing double shifts.
Final holes are being completed at the Dona Maria target and the rigs will soon move to other targets at Querosene and Tomate.
The program was designed with four priorities:
- Delineate further bonanza grades;
- Test portions of the resources at Dona Maria and Querosene with insufficient drilling to date;
- Test the Dona Maria and Querosense targets at depth; and
- Test additional targets outside the current resource base.
Artisanal mining of 1 million ounces
Previous mining at Juruena and Novo Astro has identified and exploited both alluvial and primary mineralisation.
Artisanal mining across sites began at the end of the 1960s and was responsible for the manual production of about 1 million ounces of gold.
Novo Astro mostly undrilled
Unlike Juruena, which was intensely drilled by several previous explorers, Novo Astro has only undergone surface exploration.
Drilling of Novo Astro will test the gold grade and depth extent of the surface alteration and mineralisation that has been mapped, and where Meteoric recently collected high-grade rock chips up to 290 g/t gold.
Favourable geology
Soil geochemistry at Novo Astro shows a large 2.5-kilometre sub-circular anomaly for gold in the central portion of the property.
Similar to Juruena, the geology of Novo Astro comprises calc-alkaline intrusive rocks, porphyries and intermediate volcanic rocks.
Several regional scale west-north-west trending deformation zones cut across the project.
Rock chip sampling up to 290 g/t gold
Previous reconnaissance mapping and rock chip sampling at Novo Astro defined four targets to follow up.
The best results from this sample included 290 g/t, 8.75 g/t, 4.72 g/t, 2.42 g/t and 2.21 g/t, complementing previous historic rock chip sampling across the area which returned grades of 264 g/t.