Siren Gold Limited (ASX: SNG) has identified a 4km long Au anomaly identified, extending NNW from the historic Alpine United mine, which produced 80koz @ 17g/t Au down to 500m below surface, at its Lyell Prospect in New Zealand.
Highlights
• Two trenches 100m apart, were excavated on the gold anomaly 4kms NNW of the Alpine United mine.
• Trench 1 intersected 7m @ 13.8g/t Au and Trench 2 intersected 8.0m @ 6.3g/t Au.
• The Alpine United mine – Mt Lyell 4km Au Zone has been identified as a significant new discovery.
• Siren has applied for 19 drill pads, with drilling planned in Q1 23.
Background
The Lyell Goldfield is located 40km north of Reefton, where gold bearing quartz lodes were worked over a continuous strike length of 5km. The Lyell Goldfield is the northern extension of the Reefton Goldfield that produced two Moz of gold at an average recovered grade of 16g/t. The project overlays the historic Alpine United mine, that produced ~80koz of gold at an average recovered grade of ~17g/t between 1874 and closing in 1912.
Several other small mines, such as the Break of Day, Tyrconnell and United Italy also operated historically north of the Alpine United mine. These are reported to have worked high grade quartz leaders up to about 10 cm width but only produced only small tonnages.
Three historical quartz reef mines; Titchborne, Victor Emanual and the United Victory, were located further north.
Recent Exploration
As previously reported, outcrops of acicular arsenopyrite mineralisation were found at Mt Lyell and Mt Lyell North along this gold soil anomaly, between the United Victory and Break of Day mines.
The outcropping mineralised zone at Mt Lyell extends for around 50m along strike and may be up to 10m thick. Rock chip results ranged from 0.7 to 8.6g/t Au.
The Mt Lyell North outcrop is poor, but a 100m long mineralised zone was identified based on sub-crop and float samples.
Samples with disseminated acicular arsenopyrite assayed up to 4.8g/t Au, while samples that also contained thin <4mm grey quartz veinlets included assays of 37g/t Au, 22g/t Au and 6g/t Au.
These results are very encouraging, along with visible gold found in quartz float at the Break of Day mine 1km to the south.
Two trenches (LTTR001 and LYTR002) approximately 100m apart were excavated across the Mt Lyell North mineralised zone. The trenches intersected disseminated arsenopyrite with thin grey quartz veins. A sample of quartz veins from both trenches was crushed and panned, with both samples containing fine visible gold.
LYTR001 exposed a 7.0m thick mineralised zone. The outcrop was sampled at 1.0m intervals. The intersection averaged 7m @ 13.8g/t Au, with 1.0m grades as high as 25g/t Au. The true thickness of the intersection is interpreted to be around 5.0m.
LYTR002 exposed an 8.0m thick mineralised zone. The outcrop was sampled at 1.0m intervals. The intersection averaged 8.0m @ 6.3g/t Au, with 1.0m grades as high as 29.7g/t Au. The true thickness of this intersection is also interpreted to be around 5.0m.
The high-grade core of the Mt Lyell North Au and As soil anomaly looks to be at least 300m long and maybe represents another north plunging shoot similar to the Alpine United mine. The Mt Lyell soil anomaly may also represent a similar structure approximately 300m to the south.
Mt Lyell North is a new discovery with no historic mining or previous exploration and it emphasises the significant potential of the Lyell project.
Exploration – Next Steps
Field exploration will continue over the next quarter with additional mapping, soil sampling and trenching, followed by diamond drilling in Q1 2023, subject to Department of Conservation (DoC) access.
Soil Sampling
Additional soil sampling to cover the gap between Mt Lyell North and the top of the permit boundary.
Trenching
Trenching will continue, with additional trenches at Mt Lyell North and commencement of trenching at Mt Lyell.
Diamond drilling
A DoC Access agreement is currently being reviewed by DoC, which will allow drilling of the Alpine United, Mt Lyell and Mt Lyell North Shoots.
Subject to additional trench results, the initial drilling will focus on defining the extent (height) and plunge of the potential Mt Lyell and Mt Lyell North Shoots and targeting potential disseminated mineralisation around the Alpine United mine.
For further information please visit: https://www.sirengold.com.au
