Karora Resources Inc has announced new exploration drilling results from its Beta Hunt Mine that materially extend the strike length of gold mineralization at the Fletcher Zone to over 500 metres (m).
The company said the recently discovered Gamma Block mineralization strike length has also been extended to over 200m. Both mineralized systems remain open along strike and at depth, it added.
“Exploration at Beta Hunt continues to drive extensions of known primary shears and of newly discovered zones, underscoring the fact that we are only just beginning to understand the true potential of the mine,” Karora CEO Paul Huet said in a statement. “The new drilling announced today highlights the exciting potential south of the Alpha Island and Gamma faults.”
READ: Karora Resources intersects more high-grade gold at its Beta Hunt mine in Western Australia
First discovered by Karora in 2016, Karora said the Fletcher Zone is a parallel shear zone located approximately 350m west from the Western Flanks Zone and represents a third major shear zone at Beta Hunt.
New exploration drilling, designed to further test the strike length of Fletcher, was highlighted by intersections of 3.3 grams per tonne (g/t) over 9.5m, including 5.5 g/t over 4.4m metres and 18.5 g/t over 0.8m.
It said new exploration drilling completed south of the recently discovered Gamma Block gold mineralization, located at the southern extent of the existing mine development, encountered further encouraging results. The holes drilled served a dual purpose: to test both the 50C Nickel trough and the underlying Gamma Block gold mineralization.
Although Gamma and 50C can be mined separately, the company said they are close enough to be accessed from the same level development, potentially reducing cost and access time to mine both areas.
The company noted that significant gold intercepts returned from Gamma drilling were highlighted by a wide intercept of 3.4 g/t over 33.6m (including 6.0 g/t over 10.5m and 6.1 g/t over 3.8m), 7.6 g/t over 8.4m (including 12.1 g/t over 4.6m), and 12.9 g/t over 2m. The Gamma (gold) and 50C (nickel) highlight the exciting potential south of the Alpha Island and Gamma faults at Beta Hunt and represent a second new potential gold mining area, it added.
“Fletcher is a third major shear zone at Beta Hunt that we have now materially extended for the first time since 2016,” Huet continued. “New drilling has extended the known strike extent to over 500m and over a 150m vertical extent. With strike potential up to 2 km, while remaining open at depth, Fletcher has the potential to form a long-term backbone of our operation in future years.”
Huet said it is encouraging that both zones are easily accessed on the edges of existing development, lowering the cost associated with setting up mining activities.
He said the company expects to issue a progress update on its mineral resources later in the first quarter, which will include the addition of the maiden Larkin Zone mineral resource.
Karora Resources is focused on doubling gold production to 200,000 ounces by 2024 compared to 2020 and reducing costs at its integrated Beta Hunt Gold Mine and Higginsville Gold Operations in Western Australia.
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