Red 5 Ltd (ASX:RED) believes that multiple drilling results across several prospects present the opportunity for gold resource growth, extending the Darlot mine’s footprint across several future mining areas.
The mine, in the Eastern Goldfields region of Western Australia, has yielded some encouraging results following extensive diamond drilling. These results extend the known mineralisation at the Middle Walters South prospect and bring the new Oval 1300 area into the mine plan.
Ongoing exploration and development
The drilling campaign forms part of an ongoing exploration and resource development program at Darlot focused on extending new mining areas and reducing dependency on remnant mining.
Middle Walters South is the primary focus of diamond drilling, where 28,500 metres of resource development and grade control drilling has been completed since July 2020.
This is a structurally controlled narrow, high-grade orebody that forms part of the larger Centenary orebody, one of the primary sources of ore at Darlot.
Mineralisation is hosted by the Walters Fault and in cross-linking structures between the Walters and Lords Faults.
Drilling in the earlier stages of the current program extended and upgraded the Middle Walters South component of the Centenary resource, delivering a 44% increase in contained ounces since Red 5 took over in October 2017, with the potential for further growth.
Promising Middle Walters South
Mineralisation remains open along strike to the west and further infill drilling is planned. Access development to Middle Waters South is underway, with first ore intersected in development in January 2022.
Key drilling results at Middle Walters South include:
- 4.8 metres at 13.3 g/t gold from 250.7 metres;
- 6.4 metres at 81.7 g/t from 264.5 metres;
- 2.8 metres at 21.4 g/t from 189 metres; and
- 6.7 metres at 8.0 g/t from 223.3 metres.
A further 47,500 metres of diamond drilling was completed in other key areas, including Dar-Cent, Pedersen and Moses, and Oval 1300.
Significant results at these other prospects include:
Pedersen and Moses
- 6.5 metres at 10.2 g/t gold from 54.4 metres;
- 2.4 metres at 12.5 g/t from 78.6 metres;
- 5.0 metres at 8.0 g/t from 82.8 metres; and
- 6.7 metres at 6.1 g/t from 0 metres.
Oval 1300
- 14.1 metres at 7.0 g/t gold from 48.9 metres;
- 2.8 metres at 17.0 g/t from 7.2 metres; and
- 8.0 metres at 5.9 g/t from 82.2 metres.
Drilling also intersected the Dar-Cent bulk mineralisation zone, with encouraging assay results including 47 metres at 1.1 g/t gold and 14 metres at 2.6 g/t.
Significant new underground mining area
The results confirm and de-risk active mining areas within the Darlot mine and will inform the company’s thinking as it prepares to update the mine plan.
Red 5 managing director Mark Williams said: "These drilling results demonstrate the significant potential to both grow the existing Darlot underground resource and to extend the new mining areas we are targeting within the Darlot underground mining system.
"Middle Walters South is the first significant new underground mining area accessed at Darlot since the Oval development commenced in 2016.
“Accessing this area opens up new exploration platforms from which we can target the Oval and Walters structures, with this region expected to be the primary driver for resource and reserve growth at Darlot in the near term."