ASX-listed budding gold developer Horizon Minerals has tabled an updated mineral resource estimate for one of the key satellite gold deposits that underpins its proposed flagship Boorara gold production hub about 15 kilometres east of Kalgoorlie. The revised indicated and inferred resource for the Perth-based company’s Jacques Find-Peyes Farm deposit, located at the Teal project area 10km north-west of Kalgoorlie, weighs in at 1.74 million tonnes grading 2.32 grams per tonne for 130,000 ounces of contained gold.
Horizon produced the new resource figures after completing an infilling drilling program at Jacques Find-Peyes Farm consisting of 94 reverse circulation holes and six diamond holes for an aggregate coverage of 8,291 metres.
Some of the stand-out intersections from the infill drilling were 4m at an average grade of 18.17 g/t gold from 79m, 19m going 12.53 g/t from 42m, 8m at 12.10 g/t from 60m, 12m at 4.70 g/t from 60m and 8m at 6.28 g/t from 72m.
Other notable drill hits included 6m at 6.06 g/t from 54m, 4m at 9.28 g/t from 52m, 8m at 4.17 g/t from 44m, 24m at 3.04 g/t from 80m and 1m at 16.35 g/t from 57m.
According to Horizon, the results reflect excellent width and grade continuity within the deposit’s supergene zone.
Gold mineralisation at Jacques Find-Peyes Farm remains open to the north and south within the supergene enrichment zone, the company says.
The deposit comprises a supergene blanket above shears and quartz within structurally controlled felsic schists, tuffs, sediments and porphyry rocks at depth.
Gold mineralisation at Jacques Find-Peyes Farm occurs in a flat lying oxide supergene deposit lodged between 22m and 80m vertical depth and in primary mineralisation within a sub vertical shear zone.
The mineralisation at Jacques Find-Peyes Farm trends north-north-west over a strike length of about 800m.
Six large diameter diamond holes were drilled for structural geology, geotechnical assessment and metallurgical test work for maiden ore reserves generation.
Horizon says new high-grade shoots were also uncovered in the infill program, with the highest grades typically observed in the supergene zone.
Jacques Find-Peyes Farm forms part of the satellite gold brigade numbering about half a dozen being evaluated by Horizon to complement its cornerstone base-load 448,000-ounce Boorara gold deposit.
The company hopes to put the finishing touches on a consolidated feasibility study on the proposed mining and centralised processing operation at the Boorara site incorporating the satellite deposits by the end of the year.
It is currently contemplating an initial five-year mine plan.
Horizon Minerals Managing Director Jon Price said: “The exploration team have done an excellent job in defining additional resources within the Teal gold camp. We now look forward to completing mine optimisation and design studies for ore reserve generation in the December quarter 2021 as part of the consolidated feasibility study.”
The latest gold resource numbers for Jacques Find-Peyes Farm will now be used for open-pit mine optimisation, design and economic analysis to calculate a maiden ore reserve for the deposit.
Importantly, more than 55 per cent of the resource ounces fall within the higher-confidence indicated category.
Horizon says significant mineralisation remains outside the current Jacques Find-Peyes Farm resource envelope and further drilling is planned this year to test the interpreted supergene strike extensions.
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By Matt Birney
