Pantoro Ltd (ASX:PNR) has received high-grade gold results from maiden underground drilling in the OK Underground Mine at Norseman Gold Project in Western Australia.
A 7,500-metre diamond drilling program is underway with the objective to extend the depth of defined mineralisation in the O2 Lode below the 22 Level (the lowest current development level) and to infill the Star of Erin Lode mineralisation.
Drilling below existing development on the 22 Level yielded highly encouraging results from the first nine holes completed:
- 1.27 metres at 59.27 g/t,
- 3.4 metres at 8.92 g/t,
- 3 metres at 6.18 g/t,
- 1.95 metres at 7.25 g/t,
- 2.18 metres at 10.05 g/t, and
- 1.5 metres at 6.28 g/t.
Shares have been up as much as 19% from Thursday's close to an intra-day high of 13 cents.
“Growth potential”
Managing director Paul Cmrlec said: “The limited drilling beneath the historic workings at the OK Underground Mine gave Pantoro a clear indication of the mine's potential for growth when we acquired the project.
“These results confirm the quality of mineralisation and the exploration potential of this high-grade system.
“Drilling of the remainder of the program is well advanced and we look forward to releasing additional results when they become available.”
The indicated and inferred mineral resource at the OK Underground Mine stands at 355,000 tonnes at 18.0 g/t for 205,000 ounces with the recent drill results demonstrating the scope for further growth.
Historical drill results
These new drill results complement the limited historical diamond drilling below the 22 Level, completed by the Central Norseman Gold Corporation between 1995 and 1997.
The drilling below the developed levels was limited to only 18 holes before the start of Pantoro’s work program.
These returned a number of very high-grade intercepts including:
- 2.4 metres at 623.97 g/t,
- 4.6 metres at 46.40 g/t,
- 1.6 metres at 13.52 g/t,
- 5.7 metres at 11.07 g/t,
- 2.17 metres at 47.38 g/t, and
- 3.1 metres at 12.65 g/t.
The mine has produced historically at an average grade of 9.1 g/t.
“Low-cost start-up”
Pantoro is focused on establishing a clear production development plan, with the aim to initially establish an initial inventory of around 500,000 ounces to support a restart of operations.
Cmrlec said: “The OK Underground Mine decline was fully rehabilitated by previous owners and is in excellent condition.
“Along with the extensive infrastructure including offices, workshops and change houses already in place, the OK mine is well-positioned for a very low-cost start-up when operations recommence.”