TNT Mines Ltd (ASX:TIN) has substantially upgraded the mineral resource of its WA-based Eureka Project, with gold resources soaring past the 100,000-ounce mark.
The wholly-owned gold asset’s mineral resource now stands at 112,000 ounces of gold, grading 1.42 g/t at a 0.5 g/t cut-off grade.
Within that, TNT has established a 62,500-ounce indicated resource, grading 1.53 g/t gold with the same cut-off grade.
Based on the previous 43,100-ounce resource estimate, today’s news marks a 68,900-ounce upgrade in the project’s gold resources.
And what's more ... Eureka’s current exploration cost stands at just $21 per gold ounce.
“An excellent result”
TNT Mines CEO Matthew Boyes said: “We have seen a significant increase in the contained ounces in the resource model at Eureka.
“This is an excellent result considering the limited time we have been working at the asset and highlights the quality of the Eureka orebody and the greater tenement package.
“The Eureka project now has a solid base from which to continue to grow and exploration has now recommenced on-site with drilling into the Southern geochemical anomaly starting today.”
The upgrade
Specifically, Eureka’s updated mineral resource now includes:
Independent contractor CUBE Consulting Pty Ltd completed the resource update, incorporating assays from drilling conducted over 2021’s first quarter.
A follow-up drill program at Eureka was recently completed, aiming to test extensions of the Eureka mineralisation within the Bardoc tectonic zone.
Assays for this exploration campaign are currently pending.
Promisingly, TNT has found the majority of the gold resource lies in the immediate vicinity of the Eureka open pit, along strike and down-dip.
Further investigations will assess the economic viability of cutting back the Eureka pit to exploit these ounces.
To accelerate progress, additional drilling and future resource growth targets have been identified and are now being tested.
Elsewhere, a follow-up program, involving 3,769 metres of reverse circulation drilling, was recently completed across Eureka’s northeast extension and northern high-grade targets.
Upgrade in the wake of major find
Today’s upgrade comes just weeks after TNT uncovered a gold anomaly 1.2 kilometres south of the Eureka Pit.
The company’s recent auger geochemistry program delineated a 1.2-kilometre by 800-metre gold anomaly, while auger results intersected as much as 29.9 g/t gold.
Promisingly, multiple hits exceeded 100 parts per billion gold, oriented within a north-south trending mineralisation envelope.
To pursue these results, TNT expedited and commenced an aircore drill program targeting the anomaly this week.