Tempus Resources Ltd (ASX:TMR, TSX-V:TMRR)’s first two drill holes into the No. 9 Vein at the Elizabeth Gold Project in Southern British Columbia, Canada, have yielded gold visible to the naked eye.
The maiden drill testing intersected wide zones of mineralisation, including visible gold in both drill holes targeting the No. 9 Vein.
Limited exploration last century
The No. 9 Vein is a previously mapped vein around 120 metres north west of Blue Vein. Some limited exploration had been performed on No. 9 Vein in the 1940s and 1950s, but the records Tempus uncovered were not conclusive and the company has never drilled the vein until now.
Based on progress from the two drill holes, EZ-22-19 and EZ-22-20, Tempus plans to target the No. 9 Vein with five more holes this drilling season.
“Extremely encouraging”
Tempus Resources president and CEO Jason Bahnsen said: “The visual indication of wide zones of mineralisation containing visible gold in both of our first drill-holes holes completed on No. 9 Vein is extremely encouraging.
“The No.9 vein has been subject to little exploration since it was discovered.
“With the addition of No. 9 Vein to Blue Vein and SW Vein we now have three closely spaced veins under development at Elizabeth. We are anxiously awaiting the assays.”
The geology
Drill hole EZ-22-19 was completed to a depth of 201 metres and intersected two quartz veins. From 135.67 to 137.5 metres (1.83 downhole metres) the company discovered brecciated/sheared light greyish white quartz vein. The breccia matrix consisted of strong pyrite and arsenopyrite with grains of visible gold observed in the vein and at the contacts.
From 162.92 to 163.42 metres (0.50 downhole metres), there was a light-pinkish white quartz vein with moderate pyrite and arsenopyrite stringers.
Drill hole EZ-22-20 was drilled on the same azimuth as EZ-22-19 (284 degrees) but at a steeper dip (67 degrees) to target the vein below the two quartz veins intercepted in EZ-22-19.
EZ-22-20 was drilled to a total depth of 270 metres and intercepted a 25.75-metre zone of sheeted veins from 85.50 metres and a second quartz vein intersection of 2.25 metres from 206.45 metres. The core from the hole was highly broken and oxidized to depth of 113 metres, with irregular veinlets in highly oxidized diorite.
The veinlets contained localised pyrite and arsenopyrite with visible gold observed in multiple locations across the entire 25.75-metre zone.
The second quartz vein intersection was from 206.45 metres to 210.70 metres. The vein was cream coloured, oxidised in fractures with stringers of fine to very fine pyrite-arsenopyrite with chalcopyrite.
The company says it has not encountered any massive sulphide mineralisation in either drill hole, cautioning that visual observations of gold are not a proxy or substitute for laboratory analysis. It hopes that laboratory assays and analysis will confirm the visual interpretations it has made.