Alto Metals Ltd (ASX:AME) has delivered shallow, high-grade gold results from ongoing reverse circulation (RC) drilling, including hits of up to 87 g/t, at the Indomitable Camp within the flagship Sandstone Gold Project in Western Australia.
Best intersections include:
- 29 metres at 4.4 g/t gold from 29 metres, including 1-metre at 87.4 g/t from 45 metres;
- 15 metres at 3.8 g/t from 44 metres, including 2 metres at 18 g/t; and
- 7 metres at 1.1 g/t from 83 metres and 1-metre at 24.6 g/t from 143 metres.
Mineralisation at the Indomitable Camp is defined over a 2-kilometre strike length, remains open and is within a +20-kilometre gold corridor which also hosts the Vanguard and Havilah camps, within the ‘Alpha Domain’ priority target area.
What’s more, assays are pending from +5,000 metres of RC drilling completed at the Indomitable Camp and drilling is ongoing, as part of the updated mineral resource planned for the December quarter.
“Huge scope”
Alto managing director Matthew Bowles said: "These excellent results support our view that there is huge scope to grow the gold inventory at the Sandstone Gold Project.
“Indomitable is continuing to consistently deliver shallow, high-grade gold results and, sitting within a +20-kilometre-long gold corridor, we can clearly see this becoming a much larger mineralised system.
“We are also pleased to announce the results from the first phase of 2022 drilling at the Lords Corridor having successfully extended the high-grade mineralisation at Lord Nelson and confirmed the continuity of the recently discovered Juno lode, which remains open to the south.
“Both Indomitable and the Lords Corridor are exciting targets in their own right and we are fortunate that they are only two of a number of high-priority prospects in our overall growth pipeline, that we are systematically advancing.
“Drilling is ongoing at the Indomitable Camp, with the team focused on resource growth and new discoveries
“We look forward to updating shareholders on further results and our regional targeting work in the coming weeks.”
Drill results
New assay results correspond to 17 RC holes drilled at Indomitable for a total of 2,648 metres, drilled on a 40 x 40-metre spacing to an average downhole depth of 156 metres.
The focus of the RC drilling is to test strike extensions of existing mineralisation along the main Indomitable trend and linking structures and the western side of the interpreted fold closure which hosts Indomitable and Indomitable North deposits.
Final assays from the first phase of 2022 drilling along the Lords Corridor, 15 kilometres southeast of Indomitable, have extended gold mineralisation at Lord Nelson deposit.
Significant new assays include:
- 27 metres at 2.1 g/t gold from 221 metres, including 10 metres at 3.0 g/t from 222 metres; and
- 11 metres at 1.0 g/t from 178 metres
Drill hole SRC606 successfully followed up on the recently announced SRC576 which returned 67 metres at 2.3 g/t gold and has extended the overall mineralisation from SRC432 which returned 45 metres at 3.2 g/t by 40 metres down dip.
Forward plan
RC drilling is ongoing at the Indomitable Camp, to complete a total 20,000-metre planned program focused on resource definition and extensional drilling as part of the updated mineral resource work to be completed by the December quarter.
Alto’s major 60,000-metre drilling program planned for 2022 is progressing well, targeting both resource growth and exploration as it focuses on existing resources and several advanced regional prospects, including:
- Lord Nelson and Juno, the first phase of 7,000-metre RC drilling targeting high-grade extensions – completed;
- Indomitable, 20,000 metres wide-spaced extensional and resource definition – ongoing, assays pending;
- Lord Nelson and Juno, follow up extensional drilling;
- Lords Granodiorite, deeper drilling targeting the margin of the footwall at depth;
- Vanguard, step-out and extensional drilling along the NW/SE trending corridor; and
- priority regional targets (including Oroya, Sandstone North, Bulchina Trend) – targeting underway.
Alto’s immediate exploration strategy remains focused on discoveries and resource growth within the Alpha Domain which hosts the Lord’s corridor, Vanguard, Indomitable and Havilah.
Based on the success of the systematic approach to exploration to date, the company is continuing to review the multiple other early greenfield and advanced brownfield targets within the +900 square kilometres of Sandstone Gold Project, as part of its longer-term strategy to advance the overall project pipeline to support a standalone operation.