Great Southern Mining has officially pulled the trigger on a first-ever deep diamond drilling campaign at the company’s wholly owned Golden Boulder discovery, part of its flagship Duketon gold project in Western Australia.
The move marks a major escalation in exploration for the company as it hunts for the deep-seated "engine room" of a gold system already traced over a massive 3.5-kilometre strike length.
The centrepiece of the new program is a deep diamond hole at the Ogilvies prospect, planned to reach a depth of up to 700 metres. This high-impact hole is being co-funded by the Western Australian Government’s Exploration Incentive Scheme, highlighting the regional significance of the target.
Notably, this represents the first diamond drilling ever conducted in the area and the first time a drill bit has penetrated beyond 155 metres in the primary mineralised zone. By drilling deep, Great Southern aims to test the primary structures thought to be the source of the multiple shallow gold lines discovered at surface.
Great Southern Mining managing director Matthew Keane said: “GSN believes that the gold mineralisation intercepted in shallow drilling to date may be the surface expression of a much more significant gold system at depth.”
A second diamond hole is also on the cards to target the "Main Line" mineralisation within the 3.5-kilometre Golden Boulder system. This area has already coughed up some shimmering results from previous reverse circulation drilling. These were led by a standout 5-metre hit at 14.57 grams per tonne(g/t) gold from 41m, featuring 1m at a whopping 70.94g/t gold.
Other notable historical hits included a sparkling 1-metre slice at 34.5g/t gold within a broader 6-metre section grading 6.7g/t gold from 48m and a third hole, which struck 5m running at 5.1g/t gold from 25m.
The current drilling action at Duketon is only just beginning. Great Southern says it’s already preparing for a massive follow-up, with 10,000 to 15,000 metres of reverse circulation drilling scheduled to kick off in late April or May.
This secondary blitz will target the Golden Boulder prospect and the emerging Amy Clarke discovery, where previous air core drilling defined mineralisation over a 4.7-kilometre strike.
Previous standout results at Amy Clarke included 2m at a punchy 23.9g/t gold from only 10m, whilst another hole bagged 17m at 1.4g/t from 20m, featuring 1m at 11.2g/t.
Further strengthening its exploration pipeline, the company has wrapped up an 800m diamond hole into the Diorite Hill Layered Intrusive Complex at its East Laverton project. Core logging and sampling are now underway to assess the potential for platinum group elements and base metals.
With its saddle bags full from a fresh A$4.6 million capital raising earlier this month, the company is cashed up and ready to keep the rigs humming.
Great Southern is clearly moving into the fast lane at Duketon. With the big rigs finally probing the depths of a massive 3.5-kilometre gold system and plenty of cash in the tin, the next few months are shaping up to be a real game-changer.
Punters are likely to keep their eyes firmly on the upcoming assay results.
Is your ASX-listed company doing something interesting? Contact: matt.birney@businessnews.com.au
By Murray Ward
