Rumble Resources Ltd (ASX:RTR) has added a further 10,000 metres to take its drilling program to 40,000 metres at the Chinook zinc-lead discovery within the Earaheedy Project, about 110 kilometres northeast of Wiluna in Western Australia.
Notably, this upgrade follows the 125% increase in the zinc-lead mineralised footprint identified in early July 2021 at the Chinook discovery.
To date, the company has completed 88 reverse circulation (RC) drill holes totalling 14,988 metres at Earaheedy with three RC rigs now operating on site.
Sonic drilling specialists
Aside from the RC drilling, Rumble’s diamond core drilling at Chinook has focused on twinning previously reported RC drill holes to enable grade reconciliation.
However, several attempts to gain full recovery of the core has been unsuccessful due to water and alternating hard and soft layers within the mineralised zone with all diamond holes returning less than 50% core recovery.
Therefore, Rumble has engaged Sonic drilling specialists Groundwave Drilling Services to assist in improving core recovery within the mineralised zones returning near-complete core recovery at 95%.
To date, the company has completed eight diamond drill holes and one sonic drill hole with one sonic rig presently operating on-site.
Delineate discoveries
Rumble has recently completed gravity and passive seismic surveys which are being processed and interpreted.
The surveys aim to complement the airborne magnetics and aid in understanding the structural controls that upgrade the tenor of the zinc-lead-manganese-silver mineralisation of the very large sediment-hosted base metal system.
Once the results are analysed, the combination of airborne magnetics, gravity and passive seismic may provide a valuable targeting tool to vector into the inferred higher-grade base metal feeder structures at Chinook and delineate discoveries along the 45 kilometres of prospective strike within the Earaheedy Project.
A large 24-man mobile camp has been set up on-site and is scalable.
Forward plan
Rumble has also increased the exploration team at Earaheedy with a high calibre exploration team of eight geologists and 13 field technicians assembled on-site with further appointments planned as the program expands.
To complement the growing field crew, a large 24-man mobile camp was set up on-site and is scalable.
Rumble has 32 RC drill hole assays awaiting analysis and another 55 assays in transit to the lab and on-site.
Assay analysis turnaround has been delayed due to the high level of exploration activity currently being undertaken in Western Australia.
Furthermore, Rumble intends to test the exploration target with drilling and this further drilling is expected to extend over 12 months.
- Ephrems Joseph