After dusting off old maps and records from the Mines Department, Kingwest Resources has put together a lucrative looking exploration target at its Menzies gold project in WA that will be backed up with around 8,300 metres worth of drilling. Kingwest’s exploration targets have been developed at the Princess May, Lady Shenton and First Hit deposits and extrapolate out to a range of between 930K and 1.03M ounces of gold.
The Princess May lode was mined in the late 1800s and early 1900s for 270,580 ounces grading 16 grams per tonne gold.
To come up with an exploration target of 194,000 to 388,800 tonnes grading 10g/t to 16g/t gold at Princess May, Kingwest has conservatively estimated the lode extends down plunge for around 400m at a width of 1 to 2m beneath the existing underground workings.
Interestingly, 400m is only a part of the actual depth that the historical mine extends to which is 625m. The width of the lode has been proven by mining and diamond drilling.
Kingwest’s Lady Shenton exploration target is 121,500 to 182,250 tonnes grading between 16g/t Au and 32g/t gold.
During the historical mining period at Lady Shenton, it produced 196,392 tonnes grading 32.3g/t for 204,756 ounces of gold.
Kingwest recently unearthed some old mining records relating to Menzies showing some bonanza historical face sample results taken along underground development drives and rises at Princess May and Lady Shenton.
These results reveal that the mineralisation is still open at depth, according got the company, with faces that averaged out at consistently high grades such as 22.3g/t gold over a 2.1m width along an actual strike length of 31m at Princess May.
Another sample set taken over 62m of development at the bottom of the
Princess May underground mine, graded 20.4g/t gold over an average sampled width of 0.7m.
At Lady Shenton recent drilling supports the old face sampling information, with 1.5m grading 14.3g/t gold from 292.1m, more than 40m deeper than the deepest underground level of the mine.
Old Mines Department records from the long-abandoned Lady Shenton mine include a 22m long drive grading an average 49.5g/t within a 45m long section averaging 22.3g/t gold.
Last, but certainly not least on Kingwest’s “to drill” list is First Hit, where an exploration target of 64,800 to 97,200 tonnes grading 16g/t to 32g/t gold is now in place.
First Hit is another long-forgotten gem, mined historically for around 171,000 ounces.
An open pit was dug out at First Hit in the late 1990s and prior to that, a large tailings dam and other surface infrastructure restricted access for drilling.
According to Kingwest, First Hit looks a lot like Lady Shenton in terms of geology and gold grades.
Although Kingwest’s exploration targets are conceptual in nature, they are backed by modern drilling and substantial production data.
It will be fascinating to get a look at Kingwest’s extensional drill holes as the results start to roll in.
In a waking goldfield, littered with artisanal shafts and mines in a current world where gold is king, this ASX listed company may be turning heads very soon.
Is your ASX listed company doing something interesting ? Contact : matt.birney@businessnews.com.au
By Matt Birney
