Western Australia explorer Zuleika Gold has delivered a bevy of high-grade gold intercepts from its recent round of drilling at the Paradigm East discovery, north west of Kalgoorlie. Deeper reverse circulation or “RC” drilling has returned 10 metres at 2.53 grams per tonne gold from 51m and 4m at 4.93 g/t which includes an impressive 1m at 18.48 g/t from 72m down-hole.
The high-grade assays follow up on previous shallow aircore drill results from Paradigm East which included 9m grading 3.45 g/t gold from 50m depth. Exploration over the discovery has now delineated mineralisation along more than 1,800m of strike with drilling continuing to test the lateral extents of the prospect.
Interestingly, the recent drilling lies more than 1km to the east of the original Paradigm East discovery, hinting that structures hosting the high-grade mineralisation show strong continuity and present a tantalising target for ongoing exploration.
Zuleika Gold Managing Director Annie Guo said: “The results confirm that we are in part of a gold mineralised corridor which extends from Evolution’s Paradigm mine into Zuleika Gold’s Paradigm East tenements over 2.5km strike. The high-grade results received from the 11 new drill holes beneath the supergene zones demonstrated a continuity of gold mineralisation at depth in the primary zone.”
“Zuleika Gold is implementing an immediate follow-up program to test further along strike and to test for the continuity of mineralisation at depth identified in the shallower drilling within the Paradigm East structural corridor, with confidence of adding incremental value to our gold assets.”
The Paradigm East prospect lies at the northern end of Zuleika Gold’s namesake project in Western Australia. The company controls more than 220 square kilometres of ground on the famed Zuleika Shear, with the explorer’s tenure stretching along more than 20km of strike.
Impressively, the gold-bearing Zuleika Shear hosts an immense endowment of gold estimated at more 20 million ounces, highlighting the locality as one of the richest gold terranes in Australia and an inviting hunting ground for Zuleika Gold.
Zuleika’s tenure extends from Evolution Mining’s 7-million-ounce Kundana mining centre in the south-east to Northern Star’s Carnage mine in the north-west.
The merger of Northern Star and Saracen Minerals is also creating a wealth of opportunities in the region as the new, larger Northern Star rationalises its operations. Evolution Mining has recently acquired much of its peer’s asset base in the region, taking full control of the Kundana operations in addition to a controlling stake in the Kundana joint venture with Gilt-Edge Mining and ownership of key tenure at Carbine. The $400 million acquisition brings Evolution’s inventory in the region to more than 4.5 million ounces and delivers the miner a strategic position across Zuleika Shear terrane.
However, Zuleika Gold may prove a fly in the ointment as Evolution continues to build its position in the region, with the company’s ground-holdings overlying the extensions to several large ore systems along the gold-rich shear.
Zuleika’s current exploration program will continue to systematically test the Paradigm East target whilst RC drilling at the Credo project, to the north of the Zuleika ground, nearing completion. However, with aircore drilling scheduled to kick off at Breakaway and Browns Dam the company is now strongly placed to deliver an ongoing flow of results in the months ahead.
Is your ASX-listed company doing something interesting? Contact: matt.birney@businessnews.com.au
By Matt Birney
