First Hole At Super Pit Intersects 10.5m @ 30.4g/t gold
Firefinch Limited’s (ASX: FFX) first drillhole (MRD0001) at the Morila Super Pit, part of the company’s 80% owned Morila Gold Project in Mali, has returned 10.5 metres at 30.4g/t gold from 309.2 metres.
Managing Director, Dr Michael Anderson, said the company is looking for a repeat of the historical high grades in the Morila Super Pit and it’s taken just one hole to demonstrate that ‘Morila the Gorilla’ is far from done.
“This is simply an incredible result from our first diamond core drillhole, which confirms not only the continuity of high-grade mineralisation below the previously mined pit, but also the significant potential for underground mining at Morila.
“This first drillhole is just the beginning; we look forward to ramping up our drilling efforts and to providing a steady flow of results from which to update the Mineral Resource and further optimise the Life of Mine Plan.”
Results Indicate Major Mineralised Zone Intersected
Drillhole MRD0001 was designed to test for extensions to mineralisation in the north-eastern area of Morila. Prior drilling in this area returned intersections such as 14 metres at 21.7g/t gold from 119m downhole (RCX2814) and six metres at 9.0g/t gold from 146m downhole (RCX2995).
As detailed in previous announcements, there are numerous high-grade intersections outside the Morila Super Pit which have not been closed off by drilling. There is also minimal drilling below 250 metres from surface, and away from the footprint of the pit, representing a significant opportunity to discover new mineralisation beneath the pit.
Dr Anderson said that pleasingly, the result confirms intensity of mineralisation outside the current resource. MRD0001 demonstrates that mineralisation continues to the north of the mined pit at Morila, with sufficient grade and thickness to potentially support a range of mining methods.
The company has already commenced a high-level study into underground mining at Morila and results such as these demonstrate the potential for an underground operation.
Dr Anderson said Ii should be noted that MRD0001 was drilled from the north, whereas historical drilling was either vertical or oriented to the east.
Based on the core intersections, MRD0001 has drilled across the mineralised zone at a high angle close to perpendicular, but the true width of the intersection will need to be determined by further drilling. The company is confident one of the major mineralised zones that hosted the past spectacular grades at Morila has been intersected.
Mineralisation in MRD0001 is hosted by strongly foliated and intensely altered sediments, characterised by coarse, disseminated arsenopyrite and quartz-albite veins both cross-cutting and sub-parallel to the foliation. The lithology and alteration present in MRD0001 are similar to that observed in core from historical high-grade intersections at Morila.
Measurements from oriented core indicate the sedimentary package is dipping north-west in MRD0001, with indications of a northerly plunge. Intense shearing and emplacement of intrusions syn- and post-mineralisation at Morila has deformed the sedimentary package as well as the multiple stacked mineralised zones hosted within them, resulting in a grossly domal architecture and a complex folded mineralisation sequence which requires further drilling to define extensions.
The assays from MRD0001 include a result over 100g/t gold, which is “over limit” for the fire assay technique. This means samples from MRD0001 will require further analysis to verify the higher grade results within the interval. For the purposes of estimating the grade of the intersection a value of 100g/t gold has been ascribed to the sample.
Next Steps
The company’s drill testing of the Morila mineralised system has only just begun; it remains open in multiple directions. The Board has approved a comprehensive drilling program which is designed to grow resources and reserves, optimise the initial stages of open-cut mining and test the potential for underground operations.
Additional results will be released once they come to hand. In due course it is expected that there will be further updates to current global resources of 2.43 million ounces of gold and 1.07 million ounces of gold in reserves.
For further information please visit: https://firefinchltd.com/
