125% Increase In MRE For WA Project
Latitude Consolidated Limited (ASX:LCD) has grown its total Mineral Resource to 1,115,000 ounces (13.1Mt @ 2.6.g/t gold)following a 125% increase to the Mineral Resource estimate for the Turnberry deposit which now stands at 610,000 ounces (11.3Mt @ 1.7 g/t gold).
Turnberry forms a key part of the company’s broader Murchison Gold Project, which covers 343 sq. km in the Murchison Goldfields in Western Australia. This is the first Mineral Resource update to be completed since May 2019 when it was considered a non-core asset by previous owner Silver Lake Resources Limited.
A review of the documents relating to the historical Mineral Resource estimate for Turnberry show that previous modelling of the resource was performed in a manner so as to produce a low tonnage, high grade estimate that could be processed by the low throughput Andy Well mill. Although this approach was strategically valid and also reflective of the gold price environment at the time, it resulted in a large number of mineralised intersections present in drilling being left out of the historical Mineral Resource estimates.
In total the historical Mineral Resource estimate for Turnberry contained only 16 discrete lodes. This update captures all mineralisation present in drill holes resulting in a total of 43 discrete lodes forming the updated Turnberry Mineral Resource.
CEO, Tim Davidson, said that importantly, Turnberry remains open at depth, and to the north and south within a broad 5.5km trend of gold anomalism evident in drilling and associated with a similarly geological package and magnetic anomaly.
“We continue to build on our large, existing high grade gold resource and this 125% upgrade at Turnberry is a fantastic outcome for Latitude. In short order, we have been able to clearly demonstrate the true scale and growth potential of our high grade gold projects in the prolific Western Australian gold producing region of the Murchison,” Mr Davidson said.
“Turnberry is a shallow, high grade deposit that has significant strike of 1.5km and remains open at depth and along strike. Given the scale of mineralisation at Turnberry the Company is increasingly excited by the St Anne’s prospect, which lies 3.5km to the south of Turnberry and displays similar grade and width characteristics to that seen at Turnberry in the limited drilling completed at the prospect to date.
“We have a clear plan in place to grow the existing resource base through systematic drilling and with a suite of high grade gold targets outside of the existing resource base we are looking forward to delivering further success.”
Turnberry is located within the Gnaweeda Greenstone Belt on the north-east margin of the Yilgarn Craton within the Murchison Goldfields of Western Australia. The Mineral Resource sits within a granted Mining Lease (M51/882), extends over a strike length of 1.5km and remains open to the north, south and at depth. Importantly, the resource averages 1,850 ounces per vertical metre (OVM) from the surface to a depth of 200m, at which point the number of drill holes drops off significantly. The resource also demonstrates good vertical grade continuity, suggesting that with further drilling, there is potential for resource growth.
The host geological sequence is largely comprised of fractionated dolerite with an ultramafic base, basalt, felsic volcaniclastics and porphyry surrounded by siliciclastic sediments and shales. Stratigraphy is steeply east to sub-vertically dipping and the area is highly weathered with a depth to fresh rock of approximately 100m.
Mineralisation is widespread, occurs within multiple mineralised envelopes and varies in width from two to 25 metres.
Mineralisation has developed within a number of stratigraphic units including felsic volcanics and porphyries with strong pervasive sericite-pyrite alteration, which host broad gold mineralisation with local sporadic higher grades. Vein and shear mineralisation is also present at the mafic contact which tends to host narrow, high grades with occasional visible gold in RC chips.
The best zones of gold mineralisation occur in the central portion of the resource within a highly magnetic, low chromium fractionated dolerite unit. The mineralisation can often be visually indistinct owing to several styles of mineralisation being present depending on the lithology of the host rock.