Obtains Further Significant Drill Results At Davyhurst Gold Project
Ora Banda Mining Limited’s (ASX: OBM) has received further positive assay results for the Golden Eagle deposit. Golden Eagle is located 3.2 km from the Davyhurst processing plant and is an integral part of the company’s Davyhurst Gold Project in Western Australia.
These results follow other previously announced drilling results that included GEDD21008 – 10.5m @ 7.6 g/t Au, GEDD21009 – 6.1m @ 4.5 g/t Au & GEDD21003 – 3.4m @ 7.5 g/t Auannounced in April 2021.
Managing Director, David Quinlivan, said Golden Eagle underground diamond drilling was aimed at infilling and extending the declared mineral resource of 393kt @ 3.9g/t Au for 49,000 ounces. The drilling continues to support pre- mining expectations for the North Shoot and provides important geological information into the remodelling of the Southern Mining Area (Figure 2).
“We are currently developing northwards on the 310 Level towards some of these very strong results (19m @ 5.4g/t Au & 14.0m @ 4.8g/t Au) and are certainly looking forward to mining this high-grade area in the near term,” Mr Quinlivan said.
“The Southern Mining Area has also yielded some strong results which our geology team are currently remodelling. The flatter folded ore lode geometry in this area is a new and potentially significant development and we are currently looking at ways to better target this flatter ore zone in future mining programmes.”
The Golden Eagle underground diamond drilling programme commenced in late February 2021 and was completed in April 2021. A total of 61 holes were drilled for 8,370m. Currently, assay results for 17 holes totalling 2,445 metres remains outstanding.
Golden Eagle deposit is one of five priority mining targets at the Davyhurst Project and is 3.2 km from the Davyhurst processing plant. Western Mining Corporation (WMC) commenced open pit mining at Golden Eagle in 1986 and produced 864kt @2.6g/t Au for 73,000 ounces. A further 39,000 ounces were produced by Croesus Mining between November 2000 and December 2003.
OBM initially updated the Golden Eagle mineral resource in April 2020 following the collation of surface drilling, underground drilling that was conducted in April 2018 and updates that included all face sampling data that was collected from previous ore drive development. All technical and geological information available for the deposit was combined into an updated geologically based mineralisation model. This in turn formed the basis of the updated resource estimation.
The upgraded Golden Eagle Resource is 393kt @ 3.9 g/t Au for 49,000 ounces, which includes an Indicated Resource of 247kt @ 4.1 g/t Au for 33,000 ounces. The Golden Eagle Ore Reserve was declared on the 30 June 2020 for 130kt @ 3.8 g/t Au for 16,000 ounces.
OBM commenced underground mining at Golden Eagle in the March quarter 2021 with capital decline development currently below the 310 Level (approximately 150m below the natural surface). Ore development spans five working levels, namely the 395 Level to the 310 Level (approximately 100 vertical metres). Stoping has been completed on two levels (395 & 375 Level) and remains ongoing on two levels (355 & 335 Level).
Mining completed to date on the North Shoot has met the DFS expectations. Mining in the Southern Mining Area has encountered, folded ore lodes e.g., an asymmetrical anticline with a flat west limb and a moderately dipping east limb, that require more work to better understand the controls on gold mineralisation. This is a positive result but a better understanding of gold distribution within the folded sequence is needed.
Consequently, drilling, mapping and additional mine development are being undertaken to better understand gold distribution within the folded lodes. Currently, it has been traced down-plunge for more than 100 metres and it’s highly likely it proves to be continuous for some distance yet. The grade potential of the folded lodes remains strong with a number of drill holes intersecting what appears to be a high- grade core area.
The folded sequence presents as a relatively limited drill target due to its orientations to the principal drilling direction. As a result, it may be under-represented in the current drilling data. Additional long range drilling programmes will be developed to test the greater extents and continuations of this folded sequence.
