ASX-listed junior explorer, Latitude Consolidated has hit a solid metre of bonanza grade gold within three metres of high-grade gold at its St Annes prospect in the Murchison gold district of Western Australia.
Assay results from its phase 1 drill campaign completed earlier this year have returned a 1 metre sample at St Anne’s running at a superlative 31.2 grams per tonne gold within 3m at a stellar 13.82 g/t gold from 103m.
Other notable intersection at St Annes include 1m at 3.68 g/t gold from 174m and 11m at 0.74 g/t gold from 104m, including 4m at 1.30 g/t gold.
Latitude’s flagship project covers a 343 square kilometre land holding in the prolific Murchison Gold Fields of WA, which hosts a large high grade 1.1-million-ounce gold mineral resource at Turnberry. Mineralisation at Turnberry occurs within multiple mineralised quartz vein envelopes which vary in width from 2m to 25m.
Interestingly, mineralisation has developed over several stratigraphic units including felsic volcanics and porphyries and is associated with strong pervasive sericite-pyrite alteration. Vein and shear mineralisation is also present at contacts with mafic rocks and these zones tend to host narrow, high grades pockets with occasional visible gold seen in drill chips.
Like Turnberry, the St Anne’s mineralisation also consists of quartz veining with pyrite alteration and occurs on a geological contact between mafic dolerite and sedimentary shales. Both lithologies host gold-in-quartz vein mineralisation but the dolerite generally has better continuity of mineralisation and higher grades. Latitude points out that the contact corresponds with an aeromagnetic and sub-audio magnetic anomaly. Notably, the prospective stratigraphy and interpreted structure strike 800m to the north of previous intersections.
This final 1m sample assay from the phase 1 drilling demonstrates the very high-grade nature of the mineralisation at St Anne’s, which importantly remains open along strike and both up and down dip.
With phase 1 drilling completed and assay results still trickling in, Latitude has upped the ante with a second phase, 8,600m program of reverse circulation and diamond drilling that has just commenced. Extensions of the St. Anne’s mineralisation will be targeted in the second quarter of this year as part of this second wave of drilling. Latitude hopes to then get the diamond drill rods spinning with diamond tails planned at several deeper targets within the Turnberry Central zone.
Assay results have also been returned from one of the five holes drilled in phase 1 at the nearby Judy North prospect which intersected a high-grade shoot 70m below and to the north of drilling completed by Doray Minerals during 2015. Intercepts included 5m at 2.96 g/t gold containing 2m at a healthy 5.95 g/t gold from 154m. Significantly, this is an area with only limited historical drilling. Latitude says this indicates a strong northerly plunge component to the mineralisation and Judy North remains open to the north. The company will drill test this high-grade mineralisation during current phase 2 drill program.
Interestingly, at Suzie North a 1m assay result for previously reported composite grades returned a significantly higher grade than was expected. As a result, Latitude also completed screen fire assays for several higher-grade results. This confirmed the nuggetty nature of the mineralisation, similar to Andy Well, with the result for the 1m interval from 122 to 123m down hole returning a grade of 14.45 g/t gold over 1m - 50 per cent higher than the previously reported standard fire assay result.
Latitude Consolidated Chief Executive Officer, Tim Davidson said: “We are excited by the extremely high grades returned from St Anne’s, which is an important exploration target for us. Importantly, St Anne’s is our second drill location during our recently commenced Phase 2 drill program and we look forward to expanding on these results when drilling commences there in the December quarter."
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