Horizon Minerals has intersected stunning visible gold in drilling at its Burbanks project south of Coolgardie in Western Australia, including a whopping intercept grading up to 5.848 kilograms per tonne (g/t) gold from 259m depth.
The results form part of the company's monster two-stage 30,000m drilling program at the project, launched in late June, with a focus on infill drilling to upgrade confidence around its existing gold resources.
Horizon says the drilling successfully targeted zones south of the Main Lode workings and the Burbanks North resource, hitting plunging ore shoots that the company had previously identified in its recent geological review.
The Burbanks project currently hosts an existing 6.1 million-tonne resource at a solid 2.4g/t gold for 466,000 ounces.
Horizon says that two-thirds of phase one drilling is now complete, with assays for the latest 10 holes already received, with the remaining 20 assays set to flow through to March.
Key intercepts from the program include small but powerful intersections up to 0.96m at 1762g/t gold from 259m, alongside multiple other high-grade zones with grades exceeding 10g/t and 5g/t across various depths.
The company says its program includes 45 holes, with 35 drilled to date for over 10,000m. It says the assays have confirmed the continuity of gold veins at Burbank and point to possible extensions outside the current resource boundaries, particularly in the gap between its Main Lode and Burbanks North.
The most compelling sightings of coarse visible gold have emerged in unassayed core, hosted within quartz-carbonate veins that cut through sheared basalts along the Burbanks Shear.
Assays should now pave the way for the company’s updated mineral resource next year, coupled with 15,000 metres of planned phase two extensional drilling to test along strike and down dip of known high-grade lodes.
Horizon Minerals managing director and chief executive officer Grant Haywood said: “The Burbanks resource drilling continues to deliver, with spectacular high-grade intersections announced today, including gold grades of up to 5,848g/t. The drilling program unequivocally highlights the exceptional grade potential of the system, which significantly underpins our strategy to increase high-grade, high-margin feed to our 100% owned Black Swan processing plant.”
The Burbanks project holds a storied history of gold production as one of the Goldfield’s gems near Coolgardie. Underground mining at site previously yielded 324,000 ounces of vein gold at a whopping 22.7g/t gold.
The company says the recent resource drilling has highlighted the deposit's strong grade potential, which continues to underpin Horizon’s long-term growth strategy in the region.
The project sits about 9 kilometres south of Coolgardie and is well positioned near established infrastructure, power and water, alongside Horizon’s recently acquired Black Swan facility. The plant is currently undergoing a fast-tracked refurbishment by converting the former nickel operation into a gold treatment facility.
The company is targeting first gold treatment and initial output by the end of 2026, a milestone that would see Horizon emerge as a fully self-sustaining Western Australian gold producer.
According to the company, the prefeasibility study for Black Swan remains on schedule for this quarter, supported by ongoing drilling across the portfolio.
Beyond Burbanks, the company’s other flagship asset sits in the Boorara open cut deposit near Northern Star’s giant Super Pit, which contains 428,000 ounces at 1.27g/t.
Ore mined from Boorara is currently processed through the Norton Gold Fields’ Paddington mill and generated a substantial $35.8 million in revenue for the September quarter.
Backed by a 1.8-million-ounce total gold resource base, cash flows from current operations at Boorara, the company is building momentum into the new year to become a self-sustaining mid-tier gold producer in WA's Eastern Goldfields.
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By Andrew Todd
