Overview of First Au’s Flagship Gimlet Gold Projectin the Western Australia Gold Fields

First Au Ltd (ASX:FAU), a Western Australia-focused gold and base metals explorer, is advancing on its 100%-owned flagship property Gimlet gold project, while progressing on other key projects including wholly owned Talga Au-Cu Projectand 80%-owned Tambina JV AU-Cu project in the Pilbara region.

Gimlet Gold Project in Tier 1 Mining Jurisdiction

The flagship Gimlet gold project is located almost 15 kilometres northwest of Kalgoorlie in Western Australia, a Tier 1 mining jurisdiction with easy access to operating mills for toll treatment.

Gimlet is an Archean orogenic gold project associated with the trending Abattoir shear zone. The mineralisation is understood to be related to a NNW-SSE near-vertical structure which extends to Horizon Minerals’ (ASX: HRZ) Teal deposits and thereafter further north into DGO Gold’s Black Flag Project 10 kilometres along strike.

The recent drilling program by DGO Gold came in coherence with First AU’s interpretation of mineralisation associated with the Abattoir shear. Gimlet is near the Kalgoorlie Goldfields hosting the likes of Super Pit, one of the largest open-pit gold mines in Australia.

Some of the key points of the Gimlet Gold asset are:

• Maiden JORC Resource of 69,000 oz (642,000 t @ 3.3 g/t Au)
• Easy haulage distance to multiple gold plants and toll treating facilities (Paddington, Lakewood and others)
• One of the hottest exploration regions with ongoing drilling by DGO, Horizon, Evolution and Northern Star

Experienced Management with Skin in the Game

First Au is backed by the Board and senior management holding a collective experience of over 240 years and has been recognised in the mineral resources space following a successful stint at Atlas Iron, Gold Road Resources and other mining players with extensive exposure to the Western Australian mining jurisdiction.

The management including Mr Bryan Frost (Chairman and Managing Director), Mr Damon (Non-Executive Director) and Mr Dennis O’Meara together own almost 16% of shares in First Au, aligning the interest of the management with other shareholders.

The Extensive Drilling Programs

The maiden aircore drilling program in September 2018 intersected significant gold mineralisation. The second phase of the aircore drilling intersected mineralisation with very high grades of 462 grams a tonne.

The 2,900 metres maiden RC (Reverse Circulation) drilling commenced soon after aircore drilling in October 2018. The drilling program targeted at prospects over 400 metres of the strike length and resulted in the mineralisation open to the north and at depth, with indications of both lode and supergene style gold mineralisation.

Drilling results with intersections included-

• Drillhole 18GRC016 - 13m @ 8.2 g/t Au from 67m
• Drillhole 18GRC017 - 31m @ 2.1 g/t Au from 48m
• Drillhole 18GRC007 - 21m @ 2.5 g/t Au from 138m

Successive RC drilling focussed on the near-surface mineralisation later moved to drill deeper mineralisation of the fresh rock, observing an intercept of 15m with 6.6 g/t Au, 157 metres downhole.

• Drillhole 19GRC013 – 15m @ 7.2 g/t Au from 93m
• Drillhole 19GRC015 – 26m @ 3.1 g/t Au from 90m
• Drillhole 18GRC022 – 4m @ 18.8 g/t Au from 38m
• Drillhole 19GRC030 – 15m @ 6.6 g/t Au from 157m

Long Section Gimlet Mineralisation (Source: First Au Limited)

JORC Mineral Resource Estimation: In April 2019, the maiden inferred mineral resources were estimated as 642,00 tonnes with a grade of 3.3 grams per tonne Au, at a cut off of 1.3 g/t Au.

Source: First Au Limited

The Maiden Diamond Drilling Program commenced in March 2019. Three diamond drill holes with over 320 metres were drilled. The core samples were assayed and were also used for density determination and provided further geological information for the mineral resource estimation.

Some of the assay results are as follows-

• Drillhole 19GDD001 – 32m @ 4.9 g/t Au from 93m
• Drillhole 19GDD002– 23m @ 1.73 g/t Au from 83m

A second diamond drill mineralisation was conducted in October 2019. The successive drilling program aimed at the detection of extension of mineralisation at Gimlet in deeper sections.

The assay results included-

• Drillhole 19GDD004 – 12m @ 4.0 g/t Au from 223m (including 1m at 28.7 g/t Au from 93m and 1m at 3.2 g/t Au from 228m
• Drillhole 19GDD003 – 3.5m @ 3.8 g/t Au from 209m

Gimlet also hosts a secondary mineralisation zone at Horan’s Dam, which runs parallel to the Teal-Gimlet mineralisation corridor. In October 2019, First Au completed a Sub-Audio Magnetic (SAM) survey identifying new conductors to be tested during future drilling programs.

A recent RC drilling program was conducted in February-March 2020 to further test the extension of mineralisation at depth. The RC drilling included 4 holes for a total of 978 metres. The assay results indicate that the mineralisation is open at depth, suggesting a possibility of a much larger mineralisation system in the deeper sections.

The results included the following intersections-

• 10m with 3 g/t Au from 195m
• 5m @ 3.6 g/t Au from 150m

First Au Timeline (Source: First AU Limited)

Gimlet Gold Project Government Grant

A grant of $100,000 was awarded to First Au under the Exploration Incentive Scheme (EIS) for a deep diamond drilling hole at Gimlet.

EIS is a competitive program offering up to 50% refund to innovative drilling programs and is managed by the Geological Survey of Western Australia (GSWA). The grant has to be utilised in 2020 and the Company plans to identify if the mineralisation extends at depth.The most recent RC drilling program would help in planning the EIS cofounded diamond drilling. This would be the deepest drilling hole in the area with a vertical depth of 450 to 500m from the surface and is crucial for the Teal-Gimlet mineralised corridor to evolve as a major gold site in the Eastern Goldfields.

Source: First Au Limited

The Way Forward for First Au

Further RC Drilling Program: A further 1,000 metres of the February RC follow up drilling program is planned for May/June 2020, which is subject to market conditions. The drilling program will test to identify the potential plunge component and assist the planned EIS cofounded diamond drilling program. On completion of the RC drilling program, First Au may update the JORC mineral resource estimates and examine the potential for an open-cut operation.

Further Metallurgical test works: Preliminary metallurgical test through multiple beneficiation methods have been undertaken. Initial studies indicate a metallurgical recovery of 98% (97% reported by Horizon at Lakewood) for oxide material while the upper transitional zone, at potential open pit depths, showed recoveries of 78%. This indicates the possibility of a toll treatment at mill surrounding Kalgoorlie. Further metallurgical testworks have also been planned.

Small Infill Drilling Campaign: First Au is evaluating options for an early mining operation complemented by toll treatment of the ores in gold processing plants nearby. Between 2016 and 2018, Horizon processed 22,000 of similar oxide material at Paddington and Lakewood. The mined resource volume stood at 75,000t with 3.2 g/t grade Au at an average cash cost of $1,100 per ounce. A similar operational set up would enable First Au to earn high margin without actually investing substantial amounts of capital for processing plant.

First Au plans a small infill drilling program to complement existing inferred JORC Resource to generate additional oxide and transitional material suitable for toll treatment.

Geophysics and Exploration Drilling: First Au plans to conduct geophysics and exploration drilling at Gimlet along strike, Horan’s Dam and White Dam tenements which would be helpful in 3D structural targeting of the Gimlet mining area.

Stock Information

FAU was trading at $0.006, up by 20% (as on 08 April 2020, AEST: 2:58PM), with a market capitalisation of $1.49 million.

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