Empire Metals Ltd (AIM:EEE) reported that three of the first four reverse circulation (RC) holes drilled at the Homeward Bound target at the Gindalbie gold project showed “very high-grade” intercepts.
The company has now completed 16 holes or 1,676m of RC drilling at Gindalbie in Western Australia, where it holds a tribute agreement granting exploration, development and mining rights.
Drilling was focused mainly on known mineralised trends based on historical workings, soil geochemistry mapping and previous rotary air blast or RC drill results, being Homeward Bound, Laurel-Bulletin, South Gippsland #3, Golden Puzzle and Bud's Find.
The highest grades at Homeward Bound were 5m at 8.99 grammes of gold per tonne of earth (g/t Au) from 31m downhole, including 1m at 40.90 g/t Au; 3m at 8.96 g/t Au from 98m downhole, including 2m at 13.28 g/t Au; and 3m at 9.88 g/t Au from 46m downhole, including 1m at 26.20 g/t Au. The fourth hole encountered 2m at 3.0 g/t Au from 43m downhole.
Elsewhere, "significant" gold mineralisation of 2m at 0.64 g/t Au was encountered from 89m downhole below the small open pit at Bud's Find, while a 3m wide mineralised lode was intercepted at Laurel at 1.15 g/t Au from 27m downhole.
Both of which merit follow-up drilling, said managing director Shaun Bunn.
He added: “We are extremely pleased with the results from our initial drilling campaign at Gindalbie, which was a purely speculative effort aimed at identifying priority targets for further, more detailed exploration activities.
“To hit such high-grade shoots at Homeward Bound on the first pass is very encouraging, and to have a 100% success rate on all four holes drilled at this target bodes well for future, more targeted drilling campaigns.
In parallel, he said Empire is completing a 900m strategic diamond drilling programme on the adjacent Eclipse gold project, “which will provide further geological and structural information on the mineralised system and give further evidence on the potential scope and scale for a significant mining operation focussed on this expanded licence area”.