PVW Resources NL (ASX:PVW) has started a program of aircore drilling to test the main 2 by 1.2 kilometre-wide auger anomaly of +50ppb gold at King of the West Project near Kalgoorlie, Western Australia.
Phase 1 aircore drilling will test for bedrock and paleochannel mineralisation on a 400-metre by 100-metre grid with vertical aircore drill holes, and the holes will terminate in fresh bedrock at a depth of 60 to 90 metres.
Ideal location
PVW has chosen the gold target because of its location – it is along strike from operating mines, with the main anomaly 8 kilometres southeast from mineralisation at the Golden Cities operations, including the Havana, Federal and Jakarta open pits.
The auger anomaly and anomalous intersections in exploration drilling provide PVW with multiple targets between King of The West and Norton Gold Fields operations at Golden Cities.
It is also near a major structural feature and favourable host rocks, parallel to the hinge-line defining the Scotia-Kanowna Dome and extends northwest to Golden Cities and southeast to Kanowna Belle.
Previous drilling has intersected paleochannel clays in some areas, which has driven the decision to drill vertically, to assist in penetration through the clays.
"Exciting target"
“This significant soil anomaly is an exciting target for PVW," executive director George Bauk said.
“Over the past 12 months the company has undertaken exploration that has developed this target which warrants follow up drilling."
The King of the West anomaly is near the hinge of the Scotia-Kanowna Dome.
Granite cored domes in Archean lode gold systems are known to be associated with major deposits. Major deposits often form in adjacent greenstones and greenstones above the dome if the granite is still buried.
The granite cored domes influence the structural elements of surrounding greenstones and can be the primary source of gold deposited in adjacent greenstones.
Twice the promise
Scotia-Kanowna Dome, which is exposed due to erosion, holds twice the promise because mineralisation is found not only in the adjacent greenstone but also within the core of the dome, in granodiorite or 'mafic granite', which offers a type of mineralisation that is easy to target.
The company is using the comparable mineralisation at the Federal deposit as a yardstick for targeting mineralisation in the Scotia-Kanowna Dome. The mineralising systems observed result in a distal epidote alteration (up to 100 metres from mineralisation) and more proximal muscovite-biotite alteration, which is synchronous with quartz-sulphide veins.
These attributes will assist in interpretation of drill data and can assist the geologists on site with the location of drill holes.
“We have consolidated this land package over the past six months, increasing the land holding to more than 150 square kilometres within 30 kilometres of Kalgoorlie. We have seen recent commencing of mining at the Jakarta mine to the northwest of our tenement package, to within 100 metres of our boundary,” Bauk said.
What comes next?
Given the wide drill hole spacing and the transported cover, follow-up drilling proposed for later in 2022 will target a suitable tenor of gold anomalism based on results from Phase 1 aircore drilling.
Phase 2 aircore, proposed for mid-2022, will prioritise infill Phase 1 drilling and target other anomalous zones within the current auger coverage.
Other targets will be prioritised as required along strike to the northwest and to the southeast within the Scotia-Kanowna Dome hinge zone.