Santana Minerals Limited (ASX: SMI) has received further significant assay results from the 100% owned Bendigo-Ophir Project on the South Island of New Zealand where drilling since November 2020 has increased Inferred Gold Resources to 643Koz at four Rise and Shine Shear Zone (RSSZ).
Executive Director, Dick Keevers said significant high-grade mineralisation in the top of diamond (DD) drillhole MDD014 at and similar results in adjacent drillhole MDD013 are reinforced by these new MDD014 assay results at the northern extent of the new RAS MRE of 287Koz @ 1.40g/t Au (>0.25g/t Au, uncut).
“Assays for the lower part of diamond drill hole MDD014 have extended the high-grade zone to 33.7m @ 4.35 g/t Au, an excellent result, particularly because this drill hole is located further north and down plunge, so outside of the most recent MRE,” Mr Keevers said.
“Wherever our drilling demonstrates that this new gold mineralisation continues down plunge, especially with repeated high-grade zones, we continue to add to the MRE potential and expand our options for possible future mining studies.”
RAS drillhole MDD014 – Full Results
Diamond (DD) drillhole MDD014 is on the high-grade projection of the RAS shoot, one of four deposits along the Rise and Shine Shear Zone (RSSZ) where drilling is focusing on extensions to the newly upgraded MRE.
Full results have now been received for MDD014 where previously 21.7 metres @ 5.68 g/t Au of high-grade mineralisation from the top of the RSSZ was reported in late September.
MDD014 assays show strong mineralisation extending in two intervals over an aggregate thickness of 50.7 metres @ 3.10 g/t between 174.3 and 230.0 metres.
• 33.7 metres @ 4.35 g/t of gold from 174.3 metres including: o 5.7 metres @ 11.19 g/t Au from 174.3 metres o 4.0 metres @ 12.60 g/t Au from 187.0 metres o 14.0 metres @ 2.13 g/t Au from 194.0 metres
• 17.0 metres @ 0.62 g/t of gold from 213.0 metres
A broad 100-metre-thick lower grade envelope averaging 0.10 g/t Au extends from 230 metres to the end of hole.
RAS drillhole MDD014 – Implications for additional resources
Drillhole MDD014 and adjacent hole MDD013 lie north of the newly defined RAS MRE inferred resource halo .
Their respective aggregate thicknesses and grades of 50.7m @ 3.10g/t Au and 42.7m @ 1.77 g/t Au exceed the average 1.40 g/t Au grade of the 287Koz RAS gold resource.
The east-west drill section N5017360 has a NS envelope of influence of 120 metres (60 metres north of the existing MRE and 60 metres south into the resource halo) where high grades and widths have positive implications for the next MRE upgrade.
RAS north beyond existing Resources – Ongoing extension drilling
Drilling covering the down-plunge extension >240 metres beyond the RAS resource halo has been accelerated from early October with double-shifting, seven days a week. Six holes (1,569 metres) have been completed in the past month with one in-progress. Assay results are pending for all these holes.
Coarse visible gold (VG) has been logged in three of the six of the drillholes (MDD015, MDD016, and MDD019R) over a broad area north of RAS MRE halo (Appendix 2) with MDD020 (in TZ3) yet to intersect the target RSSZ mineralisation.
• MDD015 – eight intervals of VG between 199 and 234m
• MDD016 – four intervals of VG between 177 and 217m
• MDD019R – 3 intervals of VG between 221 and 254m (logging in-progress). With the VG appearance in wide (100-metre) spaced drillholes 120m north of existing RAS resources there is cautious anticipation that these may translate into meaningful gold grades as returned in holes to the south.
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