Pantoro Ltd's (ASX:PNR) additional drill results from Scotia Mining Centre have confirmed its key role in the planned restart of operations at Norseman Gold Project in Western Australia
Drilling at Scotia has returned a number of high-grade intersections from outside and within the current mineral resource envelope.
Infill drilling around the historical underground workings has delineated extensive additional mineralisation which is not included within the current mineral resource estimate.
“Long-term ore source”
Pantoro managing director Paul Cmrlec said: “The Scotia Mining Centre is shaping up as a very important long-term ore source at Norseman.
“The new Panda discovery has confirmed potential for ongoing discovery in the area, and the multiple zones of high-grade mineralisation occurrences suggest that Scotia may ultimately be considered a goldfield in its own right.
“Scotia will continue to be a focus for exploration and resource development in the near term and is a key area for the restart of operations at Norseman.”
Drilling results
New results from drilling which has been focused on the likely open pit footprint include:
- 10 metres at 11.60 g/t,
- 9 metres at 12.98 g/t,
- 11 metres at 6.27 g/t,
- 4 metres at 11.54 g/t,
- 1-metre at 59.2 g/t,
- 4 metres at 9.94 g/t,
- 2 metres at 8.70 g/t,
- 7 metres at 4.59 g/t,
- 4 metres at 5.21 g/t,
- 7 metres at 4.97 g/t,
- 1.2 metres at 30.64 g/t, and
- 2 metres at 7.08 g/t.
The deeper drilling at Scotia confirms the potential for high-grade underground mining following the initial open pit phase.
Location of deposits within the Scotia Mining Centre
Scotia satellite resources
Recent infill and extensional drilling around the satellite Lady Eleanor and Free Gift resources have further confirmed the opportunity for multiple open pits within the Scotia Mining Centre.
At Lady Eleanor, 450 metres south of Scotia, the current resource stands at 282,000 tonnes at 2.14 g/t for 19,000 ounces.
Infill drilling has confirmed the deposit and has identified additional mineralised lodes within the system with strong potential to increase the amount of ore available to be mined from the deposit.
Future drilling will also test the gap between Free Gift and Scotia deposits which is essentially undrilled.
Free Gift
The deposit is around 1,500 metres to the north of Scotia, is open at depth, and has a current resource of 254,000 tonnes at 1.53 g/t for 13,000 ounces.
There are additional known mineral occurrences close to the resource which require additional drilling.
Free Gift will be included during the open pit design process at Scotia.
Planned restart
The latest drilling at Scotia continues to return excellent results and reinforces the importance of the Scotia resource as part of the planned restart of operations at Norseman.
Pantoro has converted historical underground mine plans into digital format and targeted drilling within the zone previously excluded from the resource.
Drilling within this zone has produced several wide, high-grade intercepts at depths suitable for open pit mining.
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