Dundas Minerals Ltd (ASX:DUN) has hit gold in ongoing drilling targeting the Central prospect within the highly-prospective Albany-Fraser Orogen in Western Australia.
Rotary air blast drilling in 22CEWB003, a shallow 37-metre hole, intercepted surprising massive sulphides, with laboratory assays of drill chip samples returning gold values of 15 parts per billion (ppb), up to a maximum of 21 ppb.
Lab results also returned much higher values for copper and nickel than the maximum pXRF readings previously reported, while silver returned lower.
The results have also confirmed very high sulphur, with a highest value of 42%, while cobalt values were lower, which could be due to inter-element interference associated with iron.
Summary of the results for all composite samples from 22CEWB003.
The company said it was encouraged by the results from the shallow drill hole, which indicated gold mineralisation at depth.
They support the company’s initial geological interpretation, after assessing the drill core from diamond drill hole 1, of a hydrothermal system permissive of gold mineralisation overprinted on an earlier mafic-ultramafic intrusive system.
Location of 22CEWB003 relative to diamond drill holes 1 and 2 (completed), hole 3 currently underway, plus hole 22CEWB001.
Dominant land position
Western Australian exploration company Dundas Minerals holds 12 contiguous exploration licences, either granted or under application, covering an area of 1,201 square kilometres in the southern Albany-Fraser Orogen region.
The Albany-Fraser Orogen hosts the world-class Tropicana gold mine and the Nova nickel mine.
All of Dundas Minerals’ licences are 100% owned and are within unallocated Crown Land.
Its tenements have not been subject to modern exploration and are deemed prospective for nickel, copper and rare earths - battery minerals that are highly sought after - and gold.