Kalgoorlie Gold Mining has chalked up encouraging results from maiden diamond drilling of its Kirgella Gift and Providence deposits at the company’s Pinjin gold project, 140 kilometres northeast of Kalgoorlie in Western Australia’s prospective Laverton Tectonic Zone.
While good gold was intercepted in all holes, the real kicker is confirmation that the Pinjin system doesn’t end shallow, with primary orogenic mineralisation extending well beyond previous drill limits.
The program involved four diamond core holes totalling 1154.6m and was co-funded by the Western Australian Government's exploration incentive scheme.
It was designed to probe well below Kirgella Gift’s shallow mid-2024 JORC inferred resource of 2.34 million tonnes at 1 gram per tonne (g/t) gold for 76,400 ounces. Remarkably, that existing resource starts just three metres below surface, leaving plenty of potential upside at depth for the latest drilling to chase.
Diamond core intercepts picked up multiple thick zones of gold mineralisation, particularly at Kirgella Gift, where one hole put into a shallow, near-resource area delivered 15m at 1.75g/t gold from 26m, which included 6m assaying 2.74g/t, among other sub-intervals up to 4.59g/t gold.
The same hole also intercepted 28m going 2.24g/t gold from 92m, featuring an 8.5-metre and a 9-metre slice grading 3.21g/t and 2.82g/t gold respectively.
The company says the new intercepts have reinforced the strong near-surface story, confirming continuity across drill holes and the presence of higher-grade internal shoots. Those features were already flagged by earlier RC drilling and form the backbone of the existing resource model.
Kalgoorlie Gold Mining managing director Matt Painter said: “We are extremely pleased with the results of our first pass diamond drilling program which delivered key structural, geotechnical, and density data to support future resource upgrades. Importantly, we have intersected thick gold mineralisation in previously untested areas. Intercepts at depth hint at the potential for vertical extension of the orogenic gold mineralised system at Kirgella Gift-Providence, beneath known resources.”
Another hole drilled into Kirgella Gift’s deeper, southern margin returned 10m assaying 1.03g/t gold from 231m, including two separate single-metre zones grading 2.83g/t and 2.83g/t gold.
A second hole in the same southern margin gave up 6m running 0.94g/t gold from 268m and 1m going 1.18g/t gold from 350m.
Together, the two deeper holes have confirmed mineralisation down to 300m vertical depth and 160m below the current Kirgella Gift resource envelope.
At Providence, a single drill hole intercepted multiple narrower but positive hits, including 3m at 2.14g/t gold from 83m, 1m at 2.12g/t from 138m and two other single-metre intercepts of 1.12g/t and 2g/t gold.
Collectively, the results have confirmed significant, steeply west-dipping, shear-hosted gold mineralisation within altered ultramafic units.
The diamond core has also revealed a previously unrecognised set of north–south trending, east-dipping faults that help explain local structural offsets. Importantly, these structures will now assist the company in tracking displaced mineralised lodes in future drilling.
Magnetic data further suggest the targeted cross-cutting structures dip more steeply than first interpreted, pushing priority deeper targets further west. This insight is expected to directly shape the design and orientation of the next round of drilling.
The diamond core has delivered critical structural, geotechnical and density data that will underpin future resource upgrades, while confirming the gold system remains wide open at depth beneath the current shallow resource.
Just as importantly, the results have also boosted confidence in the vertical continuity of mineralisation, particularly below the higher-grade core at Kirgella Gift, opening the door to further resource growth through targeted deeper drilling.
KalGold is already planning follow-up programs to test the potential areas of extension and new targets.
These strong diamond drilling results have reinforced KalGold’s strategy of squeezing more ounces from a proven gold address, setting the stage for the drill bit to start spinning again as the company chases that deeper upside.
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By Doug Bright
