Maritana Minerals has hit more high-grade gold from its phase two diamond drilling campaign at the Burbanks project, nine kilometres south of Coolgardie, with a standout intercept of 0.48 metres at a solid 25.19 grams per tonne (g/t) gold from 224.63m.
The drilling was designed to test the extents of the Burbanks underground mineralisation beneath the Main Lode, an area not currently included in the life-of-mine plan for Maritana’s centrally located Black Swan processing hub. Success at Burbanks could add a valuable new source of high-grade feed to the company’s regional production ambitions.
Other significant results from the first 11 holes of the 20-hole program included a 0.76m hit grading 9.02g/t gold from 231.42m, which contained an even richer 0.38-metre core going 16.41g/t gold.
Further encouraging intercepts were 3.89m at 2.25g/t gold from 299.11m, including a 2-metre section at 3.69g/t gold and another intersection of 2.1m at 3.33 g/t gold from 215m.
Maritana Minerals managing director and chief executive officer Grant Haywood said: “Phase two drilling has successfully extended the high-grade mineralised footprint at depth below the Main Lode, with consistent intercepts confirming continuity of the Burbanks shear. The ongoing success of the drilling program continues to de-risk the project and enhance development potential. Burbanks Underground is firming as a new potential source of feed for Maritana's 100% owned Black Swan Processing Hub to enhance and extend our existing LOM plan.”
The phase two resource definition program consists of 20 holes for 6400m of drilling and follows an initial 53-hole phase one campaign that totalled 15,798m. The two-phase program is now planned to cover an estimated 25,000m of drilling in total.
Notably, the company says most of the recent drilling was conducted from neighbouring tenements held by Auric Mining, following an agreement that allowed for better drill angles to test the target zones, which were restricted by infrastructure on Maritana’s ground.
The Burbanks project already has a JORC-compliant mineral resource estimate of 6.1 million tonnes at 2.4g/t gold, equating to 466,000 ounces of gold. The current drilling is aimed at converting a portion of the existing inferred resources to the higher-confidence indicated category, which could then support future ore reserve studies.
The project has a rich history, with the historic Burbanks mining centre recording production between 1885 and 1961 of an estimated 444,600 tonnes at an eye-watering average grade of 22.7g/t gold for 324,479 ounces of the sought-after metal.
The latest results land at a time when the gold price continues to run hot, with the Australian dollar gold price sitting at a still-heady $6400 per ounce today. It also comes amidst a wave of consolidation in the local gold sector, highlighted by Genesis Minerals’ mid-July move to acquire Vault Minerals for 5.6 billion, reinforcing the industry's appetite for building scale through central processing hubs fed by satellite deposits.
Maritana expects to receive the final assay results from the phase two program in the current September quarter. An updated mineral resource estimate incorporating results from the phase one drilling is also due this quarter, with a further update including the new phase two results slated for the December quarter.
With a substantial resource already on the books and a history of pulling bonanza grades out of the ground, the addition of a new high-grade ore source at Burbanks underground deposit could prove to be a significant leg-up for Maritana’s plans for its Black Swan processing hub.
The hub is well progressed in its development, with its stage one construction camp already on-site and most other non-process infrastructure work ongoing. The upcoming resource updates will be keenly watched to see just how much the company's latest round of drilling has added to the equation.
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By Doug Bright
