Aurumin Ltd (ASX:AUN) has looked back on another busy quarter, one which involved an intense drilling season over the Mt Dimer Gold Project in WA.
The gold exploration company fielded some of its best results to date in the September period, recording a 153.5 g/t gold hit during drilling at the Lightning deposit.
Beyond Mt Dimer, Aurumin also established a 64,700-ounce mineral resource for its Johnson Range gold asset, paving the way for future development.
Aurumin ended the quarter with just under $2.6 million in the bank to support its future expeditions.
“Best results to date”
Speaking to exploration in the September quarter, Aurumin managing director Brad Valiukas said: “The results from Mt Dimer are the best received to date.
“We continue to see excellent potential for both open pit and underground mining developments across a number of deposits at Mt Dimer.
“Drilling is planned for the December quarter to follow up on these opportunities.”
Mt Dimer
Over at its Mt Dimer camp, Aurumin reported assay results from 34 reverse circulation (RC) drill holes, covering almost 3,000 metres, during the September quarter.
The program was focused on following up the high-grade gold results from an earlier exploration campaign in March.
It spanned seven different targets and returned some of Aurumin’s best gold grades to date.
The company recapped some of the highlights in its September quarterly report, not long after drilling recommenced on the Mt Dimer property.
Lightning
Aurumin found particular success at the Lightning deposit, where it completed three RC holes for 264 metres.
Here, one drill hole hit the best gold intersection to date, returning 4 metres at 48.69 g/t, including 1-metre at 153.5 g/t.
The drilling intersected mineralisation to the north into the ultramafic unit, previously not considered prospective.
Further drilling aimed at continuing mineralisation at Lightning into the ultramafic is planned for the December quarter.
LO3
Outside the Lightning deposit, Aurumin also believes the LO3 prospect has gold-bearing potential.
As one of three deposits mined in the mid-1990s, it hosts limited underground workings, while remnant potential exists directly below the open pit.
Seven holes were drilled in the company’s July program, testing north, south and below existing mineralisation.
Two holes drilled from the footwall dipped and did not intersect the target, although drilling returned positive results south, north and below existing mineralisation.
The best result included 5 metres at 19.26 g/t gold, including 1-metre at 54.80 g/t, which was discovered in a hole to the north.
Additional 1-metre results are pending, following positive 4-metre composite results, and may further add to currently reported mineralisation.
T12
The T12 target is another possible gold deposit, examined by the Aurumin team via a SAM survey and first-pass drilling.
The company drilled five holes in the July program, aiming to confirm the target’s structure and link back to historical results.
Three holes fielded positive results, including broad, shallow gold mineralisation.
As with the LO3 drilling program, additional 1-metre results are pending and could add to the assays at hand.
Ultimately, the results will underpin plans for future drilling, which will seek to pinpoint further mineralisation at T12 along strike and down dip in the hopes of proving up a new deposit.
Frodo North (T6)
Five drill holes were completed over the Frodo North asset during the July campaign, working to identify northerly mineralisation extension from the Frodo open pit.
Assays from this campaign were mixed, although one hole returned 2 metres at 11.67 g/t gold, including 1-metre at 22 g/t from 29 metres down hole.
Further 1-metre results are pending.
Golden Slipper
Finally, at Golden Slipper, seven holes were drilled to further extend mineralisation north of the existing open pit and follow up a previous strong result.
Results returned low-level mineralisation, although the orebody remains open down dip for its 300 metres of strike.
Future work will target the down dip extension, while infill drilling will also take place in preparation for future production assessments.
Johnson Range
Over at its Johnson Range property, near Southern Cross in Western Australia, Aurumin hit a critical milestone in August: establishing an inferred mineral resource for the gold asset.
The mineral resource estimate for Johnson Range factors in extensive data validation and on-ground survey work.
It has a 1 g/t gold cut-off grade, and the resource lies within 100 metres of the natural ground surface.
Because it’s based on historical drilling results, the Johnson Range resource is classified as inferred.