Maximus Resources Ltd (ASX:MXR) has finished its reverse circulation (RC) drill program at the Wattle Dam Gold Project and completed a high-definition UAV multi-target magnetic survey at the Lefroy Lithium Project, Hilditch Gold Project and recently acquired Kemble Prospect.
Assay results from Wattle Dam are expected in September, but the 21-hole, 3,900-metre RC drill program has delivered encouraging field observations.
All projects are to the north of MXR’s Wattle Dam Project, near Kambalda, Western Australia.
Managing director Tim Wither is now looking forward to results and drill targeting.
“Field observations of the Wattle Dam/Golden Orb trend are encouraging and we look forward to updating shareholders with the assay results,” he said.
“Following the success of the previous Hilditch Gold Project drill program and the recent acquisition of the Kemble Prospect, we have completed a high-resolution UAV magnetic survey over both project areas.
"The high-resolution magnetic survey will provide the structural detail to assist drill targeting at both gold projects and the Lefroy Lithium Project.”
What happened at Wattle
Maximus completed around 3,900 metres in its initial RC drill program at the Wattle Dam Project for a planned 21 holes targeting gaps in legacy drilling south of Wattle Dam Gold Mine, along the S5/Golden Orb corridor.
The program followed up on recent drilling at Golden Orb, which intersected gold mineralisation of 6 metres at 8.8 g/t from 198 metres including 3 metres at 14.2 g/t from 199 metres (GORC058).
Gold mineralisation was intersected adjacent to the Western Shear Zone and analogous to the drilling of the S5 prospect.
The new intersection in hole GORC058 occurs outside the previously interpreted broad mineralised zone and indicates potential for a steeply dipping high-grade shoot at Golden Orb.
The S5 Prospect is north of Golden Orb and ~300 metres south of the Wattle Dam Gold Mine pit crest.
Initial drill programs at S5 intersected a high-grade gold interval of 3.0 metres at 83.3 g/t from 25 metres (S05AC001) with follow-up drilling intersecting 32 metres at 3.2 g/t from 105 metres (S05RC007).
The geological setting along the S5/Golden Orb corridor is analogous to the Wattle Dam Gold Mine. The previous drilling passed through the Western Shear Zone (part of the regional Spargoville Shear Zone which also hosts Hilditch) and into variably altered and veined ultramafics in the footwall of the shear zone.
Plan view of drill collar location with aerial magnetic survey overlay.
Drones over Hilditch
Maximus also completed a multi-target UAV (drone) magnetic survey has over a significant structural corridor on the regional Spargoville shear zone at the Hilditch/Lefroy projects and the newly acquired Kemble Prospect.
The UAV system delivered real time results in high-resolution data, which revealed features potentially missed by conventional aerial surveys. UAV magnetic surveys were completed with a 20-metre line spacing.
This magnetic survey follows the recent drilling at Hilditch Gold Project which successfully expanded the mineralised envelope from the current JORC 2012 inferred resource of 132,000 tonnes at 1.77 g/t for 7,511 ounces of gold.
The first-pass drill program successfully defined shallow zones of broad gold mineralisation which included:
- 7 metres at 7.9 g/t gold from 51 metres, including 2 metres at 16.9 g/t from 52 metres (HGRC019);
- 7 metres at 3.7 g/t from 11 metres, including 1-metre at 18.6 g/t from 16 metres (HGRC024);
- 6 metres at 3.4 g/t from 30 metres, including 2 metres at 8.1 g/t from 34 metres (HGRC023); and
- 18 metres at 0.8 g/t from 41 metres and 2 metres at 1.3 g/t from 94 metres (HGRC013).
The significance of the magnetic survey is that gold mineralisation at Hilditch is interpreted to be associated with a structurally controlled contact between mafic/ultramafic and volcaniclastic units.
Regionally, Hilditch is on the Spargoville Shear Zone and proximal to Karora Resources operating Spargo Reward Gold Mine, with a reported resource of 1 million tonnes at 3.0 g/t for 105,000 ounces of gold.
As for Lefroy, the magnetic survey will provide additional structural details for the targeted drilling of pegmatite zones.
What’s next
Samples from the Wattle Dam/Golden Orb trend have been submitted to Kalgoorlie, with assay results expected to be received in September.
MXR is also completing both fire assay and photon analytical methods to capture any potential variance in gold assays related to the abundant coarse gold observed throughout the Wattle Dam Gold Project.
With the UAV magnetic survey, interpretation of the high-resolution magnetic data sets has started and will guide the next drill programs at Lefroy, Hilditch and Kemble.