Miramar Resources Ltd (ASX:M2R) continues to advance an exploration plan over its 80%-owned Gidji JV Project in WA’s Eastern Goldfields.
The company hopes to complete more reverse circulation (RC), diamond and aircore drilling as it explores the gold project’s numerous prospects.
Miramar has been actively exploring at Gidji since listing on the ASX and believes there’s scope for a new gold camp with multiple deposits.
Although there are hurdles out of its control, like program of work delays, nailing down drill rigs and extended assay wait times, Miramar is confident it can keep advancing Gidji’s targets with a systematic campaign.
Targeting Marylebone East
Recently, Miramar drilled two RC holes at Gidji’s Marylebone East prospect, designed to test beneath consecutive aircore holes with high-grade gold results.
Both holes intersected altered and sulphidised dolerite, and Miramar plans to immediately continue exploration with follow-up RC and diamond drilling.
What’s more, both holes repeated the supergene gold anomalism seen in aircore holes, and GJRC024 returned 1-metre at 1.17 g/t gold at the lower contact between the dolerite and the ultramafic rocks.
“Most exciting hole to date”
Miramar executive chairman Allan Kelly said the amount of alteration, quartz veining and sulphides at Marylebone was indicative of a significant hydrothermal system capable of forming a large, primary gold deposit.
“GJRC024 is the most exciting RC hole we have drilled at Gidji to date and indicates we are getting closer to locating a source of the gold mineralisation seen in our aircore drilling,” he added.
“We believe we have all the key ingredients present for a significant gold deposit at Gidji and now, for the first time, we have evidence of both the targeted dolerite host rock, seen at Paddington and Panglo, and primary gold mineralisation in an RC drill hole beneath our high-grade aircore results.
“The Marylebone East aircore gold anomaly is over 500 metres long, so we believe there is the opportunity for a substantial bedrock gold discovery, given the large gold footprint.”
Looking north
After receiving program of works and heritage approvals, Miramar is ready to kick off a substantial aircore drill campaign over the 4-kilometre section of the Boorara Shear Zone.
The Boorara North target apparently contains the same geology as Marylebone and the Paddington deposit further north but has only been sporadically drilled with wide-spaced shallow rotary air blast drilling.
Given the lengthy delays in receiving assay results and its recent capital raising, Miramar decided to combine the first and second phase drilling campaigns into a single program.
Over the next four weeks, it plans to drill around 200 aircore holes on a nominal 200-metre by 50-metre grid.
In addition to the Boorara North target, at least one other high-priority gold target has been identified for near-term drill testing.
The Lake target piqued Miramar’s interest thanks to some earlier high tenor results: in the mid-90s, an RC program intersected as much as 2 metres at 5.32 g/t gold from 69 metres.
Given Lake’s structural setting, historical, high-grade drill results and the potential strike length of the target, which exceeds 1 kilometre, Miramar has elevated the target’s status and planned an RC drilling program that will test along strike and down dip from the historical results.
The RC program will be completed as soon as all relevant approvals are received and a suitable drill rig is secured.
Next up
Miramar hopes to soon report assays from its Blackfirars and Highway aircore drill campaigns, which were completed in April.
Follow-up aircore and/or RC drilling at these two high-priority targets is expected once the results are received and interpreted.
Other proposed work at Gidji includes:
- an IP survey over the 8Mile target to help refine potential further diamond drilling; and
- delivering soil sampling results from The Jog target, with RC and/or diamond drilling planned.
Parallel to the work programs at Gidji, the company is:
- locating a suitable rig to complete diamond drilling on the lake at Glandore East;
- planning reconnaissance aircore drilling at the Randalls project;
- conducting gravity and heritage surveys at Whaleshark in preparation for aircore drilling; and
- planning geochemical sampling of the late-time electromagnetic anomalies identified at Mt Vernon and a reconnaissance visit to the Blue Bar prospect, both within the Bangemall nickel-copper-platinum group elements project.