KalGold fast-tracks drilling at high-grade WA gold discovery

Kalgoorlie Gold Mining has fast-tracked plans to kick off a follow-up reverse circulation (RC) drilling program after the company earlier this week revealed its outstanding new Lighthorse gold discovery at its Pinjin gold project in Western Australia’s Eastern Goldfields.

Boots are set to hit the ground in early March.

KalGold will use an RC rig capable of piercing fresh rock as previous air core (AC) drilling that led to the discovery was only able to test a soft oxidised zone, interpreted as an extensive supergene blanket.

Supergene zones tend to form when metals in a deeper primary zone leach towards the surface before being re-positioned by percolating groundwater. A secondary sulphide layer is typically left just below the water table.

Initial remarkable results from the AC campaign included an 8-metre hit grading 9.21g/t gold from 52m within a broader 17m zone of 4.81g/t gold from 48m before ending in mineralisation. The company is now keen to see what treasures may lie beneath. 

The exploration plans are still being finalised but will likely consist of 15 holes for 2500m of RC drilling on a tighter 100m spacing grid. KalGold plans to extend each hole deeply into the host rock. Some holes are expected to reach 200m in depth. 

Time permitting, the company may also stab a few holes into the nearby Wessex prospect, which recently threw up some interesting first-pass numbers.

The Pinjin gold project is positioned at the underexplored southerly end of WA’s fabled 40-million-ounce Laverton Tectonic Zone, which hosts monster deposits such as the Gold Fields Limited-owned 5.8m-ounce Granny Smith mine, the 11.8m-ounce Barrack-owned Wallaby mine and the 10.3m-ounce Sunrise Dam gold mine owned by Anglo Ashanti.

KalGold believes its southerly position - which neighbours Ramelius Resources’ 1.04-million-ounce Rebecca gold deposit - puts it at a huge advantage for potential future discoveries. 

The region has a distinct lack of outcropping in the area, which was a deterrent to exploration as recently as 20 years ago, and was the last spot to be explored by old timers before the end of the 19^th-century gold rush. 

Subsequently, less exploration has been conducted on the grounds, leaving KalGold with plenty of targets - 15 at last count - to follow up on with the aid of modern technology.

The Lighthorse discovery is also drawing industry attention, with neighbouring explorer E79 Gold Mines fast-tracking drilling on adjacent tenements to test potential westward extensions of KalGold’s discovery. If mineralisation extends across the boundary, management believes it could dramatically expand the footprint of the Pinjin gold system.

With $1.7 million in the bank as of the end of December, KalGold has plenty of cash to spend on exploration. The coffers have been further replenished with an extra $640,000 since the Lighthorse discovery. Several option holders have converted their options into fully paid ordinary shares, hinting at the confidence punters may have for even better things to come.

As drilling kicks off in early March, all eyes will be on KalGold’s next move. The share price has already exploded 400pc to as high as 10 cents on the back of the Lighthorse results, which still only values the company at $20m.

Should the next round of drilling prove up a depth extension into the host rock and unearth the primary source of the supergene enrichment up top, the discovery could launch KalGold as a significant force in Western Australia’s gold exploration landscape.

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