Aeris Resources Ltd (ASX:AIS) is trading higher on the back of strong gold results from a resource definition drill program at the Golden Plateau deposit, part of the company’s 100%-owned Cracow tenement package in southeast Queensland.
The established copper and gold producer and explorer has recorded high-grade intersections from high-priority north-south structures at Golden Plateau, including:
- 17.9 metres at 6.3 g/t gold from 221.35 metres (true width 9.3 metres) including 10.7 metres at 9.4 g/t (5.9 metres);
- 1-metre at 9.2 g/t from 209 metres (0.5 metres);
- 4 metres at 9.0 g/t from 200 metres (2 metres);
- 3.7 metres at 7.9 g/t from 237.9 metres (2.3 metres); and
- 1-metre at 6.7 g/t from 299 metres (0.5 metres).
These high-grade intersections support a revised geological interpretation of north-south structures controlling mineralisation.
Shares are 13.75% higher at $0.455 and have been as high as $0.485 intra-day.
Confidence grows
Aeris executive chairman Andre Labuschagne said “The Golden Plateau deposit is an exciting story and these latest drill results reinforce our geological understanding of the structural controls of the mineralisation.
“Our confidence in the prospectivity of Golden Plateau continues to grow, including the potential to discover new lodes.
“The current drill program is targeting five high-grade lodes and a maiden mineral resource is planned for the first half of this financial year.
“We believe that Golden Plateau offers excellent potential to become a new, high-grade ore source for Cracow.”
Historical production
Golden Plateau deposit is 1 kilometre north of the Cracow mill, positioned along a regional northwest trending epithermal quartz vein structure that has been traced along a total strike length of seven to 10 kilometres.
The mine and surrounding deposits historically produced approximately 850,000 ounces of gold, within a prospective corridor extending for one kilometre along strike and up to 270 metres below surface.
Production at Golden Plateau was derived from a number of distinct high-grade gold shoots ranging in size from less than 40,000 ounces of gold through to about 200,000 ounces.
Historical mining focused on selectively mining high-grade gold shoots within broader low-grade east-west trending quartz lodes.
Recent drilling has shown that the formation of high-grade shoots is controlled by north-south trending, steeply dipping structures, which host substantial quartz veins and high-grade mineralisation away from the historical mining footprint.
These hold the potential for a significant increase in the prospectivity of the Golden Plateau deposit.
Moving forward
The company has since drilled another five drill holes and assays are back for 14 holes.
This resource definition drilling program will continue throughout the first quarter of the 2023 financial year. It will focus on testing the five high-priority lodes near the old mining shoots.
Drill data from the completed drill program will be used to inform a maiden mineral resource for the deposit, due in the first half of the 2023 financial year.