Alto Metals Ltd (ASX:AME) has started a 5,000-metre reverse circulation (RC) drilling program focusing on the Lord’s Corridor as part of an overall 30,000-metre program at Sandstone Gold Project in Western Australia, the largest single drill program the company has undertaken.
Drilling is targeting potential repeat high-grade lodes and is also set to identify potential new extensions to oxide and deeper primary mineralisation at the recently discovered Orion Lode.
The first phase forms part of a much larger RC drill program planned for Lord Nelson, the Lords’ Corridor and priority regional targets and is the first drilling program carried out on these targets since 2010.
"Excellent position"
Managing director Matthew Bowles said: “We are very excited to have commenced drilling the first of a number of targets to test for potential repeat lodes along the Lords’ Corridor, that extends for over 3 kilometres.
“Our exploration success to date has already confirmed high-grade gold mineralisation beneath the Lord Nelson open pit and has discovered the Orion Lode to the south.
“Both remain open along strike and down plunge and have given indications of the presence of a much larger mineralised gold system.
“With a strong cash balance and a 30,000-metre drill program underway, Alto is in an excellent position to start to see just how big this system could be.”
RC drill results from the Orion Lode to date show the presence of high-grade gold mineralisation within a much broader mineralised envelope.
Regular news-flow expected
The consistency of these results in the oxide, transitional and primary zone suggests that the oxide and transitional zones at the Orion Lode are hypogene (not supergene) in nature, highlighting the strong potential immediately below the weathering profile (30-70 metres below surface).
This drilling program intends to test a number of potential repeat targets around 400 metres and 800 metres south of the Orion Lode, with drilling on a wide-spaced 80 by 80-metre basis to an average of 200 metres vertical depth.
Given the scale of the drill program underway, shareholders can expect regular news flow over the coming months.
Furthermore, given the strong market support for gold exploration and emerging new discoveries, Alto Metals is intending to secure a second drilling rig early next year to accelerate exploration activity.