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Highlights
- High-grade gold intersected at Viani project, with results up to 24 g/t Au.
- Drilling confirms continuity of mineralisation below historical JICA drill hole.
- Shares rise 12.5% to 0.9cps following promising results.
Alice Queen Ltd (ASX:AQX) has made a significant breakthrough at its Viani project in Vanua Levu, Fiji, intersecting high-grade epithermal gold during its maiden diamond drilling campaign. The initial drill hole returned gold grades as high as 24 grams per tonne (g/t), with gold mineralisation observed between 103.5 and 166.88 metres depth.
Key results include:
- 1.25 metres at 2.24 g/t gold (Au) and 12.48 g/t silver (Ag) from 107.9 metres, including 0.5 metres at 4.77 g/t Au and 24.8 g/t Ag.
- 1.9 metres at 8.52 g/t Au and 13.1 g/t Ag from 144.2 metres, including 0.7 metres at 17.6 g/t Au and 12.32 g/t Ag.
The drilling, conducted at the Dakuniba prospect, aimed to test a high-grade low-sulphidation epithermal gold system previously mapped over a three-kilometre stretch.
Confirming Historical Gold Hits
The new findings add weight to historical data, with the recent diamond drill hole intersecting gold mineralisation approximately 40 metres below a 1990s JICA drill hole (MJVFV-5) that recorded 2.2 metres at 11.3 g/t Au.
Alice Queen’s managing director, Andrew Buxton, expressed cautious optimism, saying:
“While it is too early to call this a ‘discovery’, it certainly seems to me that this has all the hallmarks of one. With over 3km of surface gold anomalies still to test within a vast 200 square kilometre tenement area, and drilling ongoing, it feels like just a matter of time before we can claim Viani as the ‘next big thing’ in Fiji’s gold mining story.”
Market Reaction and Next Steps
The market responded positively to the announcement, with Alice Queen’s shares rising 12.5% to 0.9cps.
