Nexus Minerals Ltd (ASX:NXM) has hit further high-grade gold mineralisation and broad alteration zones during drilling at the Wallbrook Project’s Templar prospect.
The gold explorer reported assays from one diamond and two reverse circulation (RC) holes drilled at Templar, a key target within its 250-square-kilometre Eastern Goldfields asset in WA.
A diamond hole hit a 4.6-metre intersection grading 5.78 g/t gold, while the two RC holes returned as much as 4.13 g/t and 1.99 g/t.
Nexus has since drilled a fourth, deeper diamond hole at Templar. While assays are pending, it does confirm the gold mineralisation at Templar is in line with Northern Star Ltd’s nearby multi-million-ounce Karari mine.
Unlocking Crusader-Templar’s potential
The Wallbrook Project represents a tenement package that includes the highly prospective Crusader and Templar gold prospects.
Nexus managing director Andy Tudor said the broad, high-grade results received from the third diamond drill hole at Templar were in line with the company’s expectations.
“What has significantly exceeded our expectations is the alteration style and mineralisation observed in both diamond drill hole #3 and the recently completed deeper diamond hole #4.
“They exhibit the same style that hosts the multi-million-ounce Karari deposit 30 kilometres to the south.
“This has now linked the Crusader-Templar alteration and mineralisation style with that of Karari, providing confidence in the potential for the Crusader-Templar prospect to evolve into a very large mineralised system.”
Diamond drilling
During its recent drilling campaign, Nexus set out to target a mineralised gold zone from its surface to 600 metres deep.
Both of the company’s latest diamond holes hit significant alteration, with the third returning:
- 18.38 metres at 2.4 g/t gold from 123.72 metres, including 4.61 metres at 5.78 g/t.
Assays are awaited from the fourth diamond hole, which drilled 702 metres deep.
However, the gold mineralisation tenor and widths observed in drilling to date at Templar mirror that of the Crusader Prospect and that observed at the Karari Mine.
There’s broad, lower-grade mineralisation above the 100-metre mark, but this gives way to high-grade hits below this point.
RC drilling
Meanwhile, RC holes #199 and #201 intersected mineralisation as interpreted, returning:
- 12 metres at 1.72 g/t gold from 200 metres, including 4 metres at 4.13 g/t; and
- 40 metres at 0.82 g/t from 44 metres, including 8 metres at 1.99 g/t.
However, five RC holes — #200, #202, #203, #204, #205 — were forced to be stopped short of the interpreted mineralised zones due to poor drilling conditions.
Diamond tails will now be drilled to extend the five holes through their interpreted mineralised depths.
Next steps
Future drill programs at Templar will test for depth extensions to the mineralisation, as well as test for further strike extensions to the Crusader/Templar mineralised corridor.
This currently extends over 1.6 kilometres of strike, constrained only by the extent of drilling Nexus has completed to date.
Nexus at Proactive Gold Webinar
Today's results come as Tudor prepares to speak to the company's value proposition at Proactive's Gold Webinar on Tuesday, October 12.
The MD will provide a snapshot of this quarter's work program at Wallbrook, which includes an accelerated drill program covering 30,000 metres of RC and 3,000 metres of diamond exploration.
Much of the program is centred on the Crusader and Templar prospects, where Nexus recently unveiled several high-grade gold intersections across 13 RC holes, leading the board to fast-track its drilling campaign.
The webinar begins at 12:00 pm AEDT — or 9:00 am AWST — and you can register for the event here.