Cauldron Energy Ltd (ASX:CXU) (FRA:UFX) has engaged Core Prospecting Pty Ltd of Heathcote, Victoria, for underground diamond drilling at its Blackwood Gold Project in Central Victoria.
The company expects to be able to establish operations on-site and start drilling in the coming weeks.
A site visit to plan the mobilisation to site with Core Prospecting and the company’s geologists and operational personnel is planned within two weeks.
Following this, Core Prospecting and Cauldron Energy will establish a site presence with immediate effect with drilling to commence thereafter.
All approvals received
Cauldron has received all necessary approvals and consents to allow underground operations to now commence utilising the Tyrconnel Portal to access its planned drill positions.
The 1.5-kilometre Tyrconnel access bisects both the Eastern and Western Reef packages comprising some historically prolific gold reefs and encompassing the Sultan shaft, which produced a little over 73,000 ounces of gold at an average grade of 28 g/t in the 1860s.
Tyrconnel access tunnel provides the company’s geologists with an ideal underground drill platform to target all the reef systems and provides multiple opportunities for sampling.
Proposed work program
The proposed work program, which has been approved by regulators, includes initial ‘walk-up’ drill targets accessible from platforms inside the mining infrastructure.
Cauldron plans to target reefs forming parallel sets providing multiple intersection opportunities at the Eastern Reef system, which was mined across two time periods: an early period up to the 1860’s and a subsequent period in the 1990s.
Extremely target-rich
Cauldron Energy’s director Jess Oram said: “It’s exciting for Cauldron that a company with the critical underground equipment and skills in the Victorian Goldfields like Core Prospecting are immediately available and keen to be at the start of this exciting exploration work.
“Cauldron has defined and followed through on its strategy and commitment to use traditional access and methods to explore this historically prolific and largely overlooked goldfield.
“We are excited to partner with Core Prospecting and finally be able to test our models and start the field work in this extremely target-rich part of the Victorian Goldfield ”.
Core Prospecting has a successful history of performing underground drilling services at a number of historical mines in the Victorian Goldfields in line with the company’s goals of using mining access created by historic miners and traditional mining methods.
Initial drilling program
The initial drilling program will be completed with a Kempe compressed air diamond drill rig, which requires minimal works, reducing costs and compressing the start-up period.
This small unit requires a limited set-up and utilises compressed air.
The design of the drilling and the use of the existing underground infrastructure provide improves the probability of intersecting mineralisation while reducing costs and provides a very high quality and high-frequency news flow.
Mineralisation is interpreted to exist in a parallel set of veins that have a north-south trending strike of 3.5 kilometres.
The Tyrconnel adit cuts across this line-of-lode providing access to seven or eight vein systems, most notably underneath and to the south of the shaft collar of the Pioneer Shaft.
The drilling program will target the down-plunge extensions of the known mineralised reef systems.
Blackwood Gold Project
The Blackwood Gold Project is in Victoria’s highly productive ‘Golden Triangle’, having exceptional opportunity to extend the ore shoots abandoned by past miners.
In addition, there is potential to discover new ore shoots lying proximal to the underground tunnel system left by historical mining activity.