Corazon Mining has officially pulled the rods on a maiden diamond drilling program at its Two Pools gold project. And if the early visual signs are anything to go by, the company has hit the ground running.
The company smashed drilling-metre targets and has now fast-tracked assays, with its geological thesis holding up under the pressure of the diamond bit.
The campaign wrapped up at 995 metres, comfortably exceeding the initial 920-metre target. Whilst the extra metres are a bonus for data collection, the real story appears to lie in what the company saw in the core. Visual logging has confirmed the mineralised system persists at depth, providing a critical “win” that significantly de-risks the project.
For a site that has previously been only tickled by shallow rotary air blast and reverse circulation (RC) drilling, averaging just 75 metres, this deep-dive into the structural architecture looks set to be a total game-changer.
With the program meeting and exceeding the company’s geological expectations, the early visuals may have provided just the tonic to validate the company’s structural thesis, hinting that historical high-grade shallower hits may be part of a much larger, deeper system.
The company’s program was precision-engineered to chase some seriously impressive historical ghosts, such as zones that previously coughed up intercepts of 12 metres at a chunky 8.9 grams per tonne (g/t) gold and 8m at 7.8g/t gold.
Corazon also showed its ambition by sinking a 400-metre-deep hole to test the northwest-trending down-plunge extension, chasing a historical hit of 5 metres at 3.6 g/t gold from 236 metres. Located just 300 metres from the main mineralised area, this hole could provide the definitive answers Corazon needs to unlock this largely untested zone.
Efficiency was the name of the game throughout the program. In a move designed to shave weeks off the usual wait times, Corazon ran its logistics concurrently with the drilling.
As the drill rod turned, core samples were already being hot-shotted to Kalgoorlie for assaying. This proactive approach means the market can expect the first batch of results in the coming weeks rather than months.
Corazon Mining managing director Simon Coyle said: “What we’ve seen visually in the core has met and exceeded our geological expectations; the structure and mineralisation we were targeting is clearly present.”
Strategically positioned within the prolific Plutonic-Marymia greenstone belt, a region with a proven pedigree for major gold discoveries, the Two Pools prospect is positioned perfectly. However, Corazon isn't a one-trick pony. While the market waits for the Two Pools assays, the company is also moving ahead at its Feather Cap gold project in the Gascoyne.
Surrounded by several major deposits, including Sandfire Resources’ high-grade mine containing 660,000 tonnes of copper and one million ounces of gold, Feather Cap offers multiple "walk-up" drill targets that are set to be tested later this year.
With the laboratory working overtime and the geological model being refined in real-time, Corazon is preparing for a high-impact follow-up RC drilling campaign in the second quarter of this year. If the upcoming assay results match the promise of the visual core, expect the company to shift into an even higher gear.
Clearly, Corazon is starting to show there may be plenty of smoke – and perhaps real fire – lurking beneath the surface at its Western Australian gold play.
For those keeping a close eye on the WA gold scene, this is shaping up as a story where the real “deep dive” is only just beginning. If the upcoming assays deliver, Corazon could well be sitting on the early chapters of its next big gold discovery.
Is your ASX-listed company doing something interesting? Contact: matt.birney@businessnews.com.au
By Murray Ward
