Barton Gold Holdings Limited (ASX: BGD) has confirmed a new ~500m gold zone at the Area 51 discovery prospect with assay results from the company’s May 2022 reverse circulation drilling programme (3,160m) at the Tunkillia Gold Project in South Australia.
The new Area 51 gold zone has been identified within a broad halo of gold alteration similar to that observed around the company’s cornerstone 965koz 223 Deposit (1.15 g/t Au).
“We are very pleased with these results, which confirm another new gold zone at Tunkillia and further demonstrate the substantial gold endowment of the Yarlbrinda Shear Zone,” MD Alex Scanlon said.
“As the footprint of this project grows with each program, we are increasingly excited about the scale potential of this system. “With these results now in hand, our next Tunkillia drilling programme is set to commence very shortly, with the objective to support an updated Mineral Resources Estimate for the Tunkillia Project.”
Broad Zone of Extensive Alteration Including a Large Gold Halo
Barton’s July 2021 drilling programmes discovered two new gold zones at Tunkillia, at the 223 North and Area 191 prospects, and confirmed a higher-grade gold zone central to the 965koz Au 223 Deposit.
Mineralisation at 223 North and Area 191 was predicted by the company’s regional geophysical modelling, and the May 2022 drilling campaign was designed to test a third prospective target at Area 51.
Area 51 is located ~2.5km along strike to the NW of 223 North, and ~3.5km along strike to the NW of the 223 Deposit.
The programme succeeded in completing all 12 planned drill holes for Area 51 to their target depths, successfully defined the mineralised position across every drilled section, and confirmed a 500m strike extent to the system.
Key results (>5 gram-metre Au) include:
• TKB0043: 17m @ 3.20 g/t Au from 77m, incl 10m @ 4.77 g/t Au from 78m
• TKB0041: 25m @ 1.51 g/t Au from 81m, incl 1m @ 13.9 g/t Au from 101m
• TKB0047: 6m @ 1.35 g/t Au from 95m, incl 1m @ 3.62 g/t Au from 98m
• TKB0043: 45m @ 0.92 g/t Au from 97m, incl 2m @ 2.03 g/t Au from 118m
• TKB0047: 6m @ 1.16 g/t Au from 133m, incl 1m @ 2.44 g/t Au from 136m
• TKB0048: 8m @ 0.99 g/t Au from 140m, incl 1m @ 1.88 g/t Au from 142m
• TKB0048: 10m @ 1.22 g/t Au from 158m, incl 1m @ 2.52 g/t Au from 158m – Hole ended in mineralisation
An outstanding feature of this mineral system is the lateral extent of strong silica±sericite±pyrite alteration, often accompanied by low level (>0.1 g/t) gold. Mineralisation remains open both to the north and south, as well as at depth.
223 North Drilling results
The May 2022 drilling program included drilling at the 223 North project area. Multiple intersections of >0.5g/t Au were returned from this drilling and are presented in the JORC tables 1 & 3 in the annexures to this release.
These most recent results will be integrated with earlier drilling at this project area prior to planning further exploration.
Upcoming Tunkillia Exploration Programmes
The company expects to shortly commence drilling at the 223 Deposit to support a forthcoming planned update to the JORC (2012) Mineral Resource Estimate for the Tunkillia Gold Project. The company will also further evaluate the Area 51 drilling results for potential follow up drilling.
For further information please visit: https://bartongold.com.au/
