Silver Mines Limited (ASX:SVL) has increased the prospectivity of Bundarra Zone at Bowdens Silver Project in Central West New South Wales with wide high-grade assay results from a 30,000-metre underground resource drilling program.
Drilling was designed to test mineralised zones for underground mining potential at Bowdens, with a particular focus on the Northwest Zone, Aegean Zone and Bundarra Zone.
There were wide high-grade Intercepts from Bundarra Zone:
- 14.2 metres at 374 g/t silver equivalent (36 g/t silver, 4.86% zinc, 2.35% lead and 0.23 g/t gold) from 238 metres, including 4.6 metres at 694 g/t silver equivalent (72 g/t silver, 8.76% zinc, 4.40% lead and 0.49 g/t gold) from 245.4 metres;
- 9.0 metres at 296 g/t silver equivalent (29 g/t silver, 3.23% zinc, 1.86% lead and 0.55 g/t gold) from 300.7 metres, including 1.5 metres at 470 g/t silver equivalent (48 g/t silver, 5.55% zinc, 3.69% lead and 0.30 g/t gold) from 301.5 metres, and 1-metre at 615 g/t silver equivalent (67 g/t silver, 4.65% zinc, 3.32% lead and 2.58 g/t gold) from 308 metres.
A new quartz vein with sulphide vein style high-grade mineralisation was also intersected:
- 3.0 metres at 437 g/t silver equivalent (52 g/t silver, 5.57% zinc, 0.50% lead and 1.14 g/t gold) from 294.4 metres, including 1.4 metres at 749 g/t silver equivalent (78 g/t silver, 9.14% zinc, 0.87% lead and 2.36 g/t gold) from 296 metres.
The Aegean to Northwest Zone is dominated by high-grade silver vein systems of substantial widths, while the Bundarra Zone is dominated by wide zones of high-grade zinc and lead mineralisation, associated with gold and silver.
All three zones are beneath the bulk-tonnage open-pit ore reserve of the Bowdens deposit with the Aegean Zone directly beneath Main Zone.
Scoping study and resource drilling
Silver Mines has four drilling rigs on site to service its resource drilling program. Targets include high-grade veins and feeder zones outside of the current open pit ore reserve in the north, central and southern parts of the Bowdens deposit.
The company says results from this drilling will form the basis for a mineral resource estimate as part of a scoping study of underground mining scenarios.
The drilling program has been extended into 2022 in line with the ‘outstanding’ new results and extensions from the Bundarra zones, and the scoping study is now in advanced stages and expected to be complete in the first half 2022, following the completion of resource drilling.
About Silver Mines
Silver Mines’ strategy is to develop silver deposits in New South Wales and become Australia’s pre-eminent pure silver company, focused on the development stage Bowdens Project.
In March 2021, the company submitted a Mining Lease Application (MLA) for the development of Bowdens, east of the town of Mudgee.
The project boasts an open-cut mine feeding a new processing plant with a conventional milling circuit and differential flotation to produce two concentrates that will be sold for smelting off site.