Alto Metals Ltd (ASX: AME) has commenced a planned 2,000m maiden RC drilling programme at the historic high-grade Oroya gold mines, within the company’s 100% owned Sandstone Gold Project in Western Australia.
This is the first time Oroya has had any drilling in over 15 years.
• Drilling is targeting extensions of the Sandstone reef mineralisation to the north-west beyond the north end of the pit, along with extensions to the south and down dip to the west, which have not been adequately tested.
• Historical results highlight significant high-grade mineralisation remains below the shallow-mined Oroya pit (60m depth) and along strike and down dip of the underground workings of the main reef, including:
o 23m @ 6.2 g/t gold from 87m, incl. 2m @ 55.9 g/t gold from 89m (NT5020R) – NW Extension
o 8m @ 17.9 g/t gold from 69m, incl. 1m @ 137.0 g/t gold from 73m (NT5026R) – Main Reef
o 9m @ 14.6 g/t gold from 42m, incl. 1m @ 120.0 g/t gold from 42m (MSGC1312) – Juno/Main Reef o 6m @ 8.3 g/t gold from 49m, incl. 2m @ 23.2 g/t gold from 51m (MSGC0886) – Main Reef
o 13m @ 3.1 g/t gold from 22m, incl. 2m @ 11.9 g/t gold from 28m (MSGC0933) – Juno
o 8m @ 10.1 g/t gold from 44m, incl. 1m @ 50 g/t gold from 47m (MSGC1136) – Oroya West
The Oroya Mine produced 220,000oz at 16.5 g/t gold from underground mining between 1904-1920 and a further ~25,000oz at 2.3 g/t gold from open pit mining from 1994-1995.
A targeting review of historic Hacks mine and near mine targeting is ongoing, as part of Alto’s regional targeting review.
An update to the current open-pitable 635,000oz @ 1.6 g/t gold resource is planned for March quarter, incorporating over 47,000 metres of new drilling.
“We are excited to be testing numerous targets at the Oroya Mine, which historically produced 220,000oz at 16.5 g/t gold from underground to a depth of only 140 metres below surface and is the first time this ‘long forgotten mine’ has had any drilling in over 15 years,” Managing Director, Matthew Bowles, said.
“Drilling is designed to test both plunge and strike extensions high-grade gold mineralisation of the Sandstone Reef, along with the unmined Juno reef to the west.
“Whilst our focus remains on growing our current 635,000 ounce shallow gold resource, Oroya is an outstanding high-grade gold target, that demonstrates the quality of prospects in our project pipeline and is an exciting opportunity for Alto shareholders.”
For further information please visit: https://altometals.com.au/
