Gold hunt resumes for Godolphin in NSW

Godolphin Resources has fired up the RC drill rig at its Gundagai gold project in the renowned Lachlan Fold Belt in NSW, after being hit with some unseasonal rough weather which delayed the interrogation of its high-grade ground. The reignited campaign will see the gold explorer complete a 12 holes program totalling 1,975 metres. To date, the company has sunk five holes and intends to launch another half a dozen. The company expects its latest round of drilling to be wrapped up by mid-December with assay results earmarked for the new year.

The junior explorer will use the campaign to target the historically-worked Emu gold mine, which previously coughed up rock chip assay results with grades of 386 grams per tonne and 320 g/t gold from a pair of samples that showed visible gold. Godolphin will also look to target mapped quartz veins.

As part of its latest expedition Godolphin will test a handful of its key Gundagai prospects including Mantons, Big Ben and Surprise Hill North.

Godolphin Resources Managing Director, Jeneta Owens said:“Now that the conditions have improved, we can safely get back to drilling the Gundagai Project. We will immediately finish the second hole at the Mantons Prospect, before drilling the additional two holes in the same area to target mapped quartz veins and old gold workings. After Mantons, the rig will mobilise to the Big Ben prospect in Gundagai South. We look forward to providing ongoing drilling updates and assay results over the coming months.”

The company’s Gundagai project, located in the southern region of the Lachlan Fold Belt, wraps around the Gundagai township that lays claim to a storied history of high-grade gold mining. Interestingly, Godolphin’s ground encompasses a suite of historic gold and base metal workings that sit in a belt of basaltic rocks that have been intruded by quartz-porphyry dykes.

Approximately 200 kilometres north of its Gundagai prospects, at the Lewis Ponds project, Godolphin recently lifted the veil on an entourage of previously unnoticed polymetallic and gold mineralisation through a re-interpretation of soil samples. According to the company, the work has led to the identification of additional gold with coincident copper, barium, bismuth, molybdenum, tellurium and lead all south of its main mineral resource.

Interestingly, the NSW-focused gold explorer says the geochemical characteristics of its re-interpretated soil samples are akin to ASX-listed Regis Resources’ two-million-ounce McPhillamys gold deposit that lies about 30km away. The $1.5 billion market capped Regis’s asset is considered one of Australia’s larger underdeveloped open-pitiable gold resources.

Elsewhere at the company’s nearby Williams prospect, Godolphin recently collected about half of a 200 piece soil sampling program targeting trends south-east of its Lewis Ponds project. According to the company, its exploration work at the Williams prospects could be polished off by early next year.

As Godolphin looks to fire up the drill rig for a second time the high-grade project the company will be hopeful its outstanding holes can tap into the region’s strong historical gold delivery. If the junior explorer can follow its latest work with a solid set of hits it could be game on for gold in Gundagai. 

Is your ASX-listed company doing something interesting? Contact: matt.birney@businessnews.com.au