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Summary
- Middle Island reported bonanza gold grade intercepts from fresh Phase 2 RC drilling at the new Ridge satellite deposit.
- The bonanza intercepts include 4m @ 99.5g/t from 13m in MSRC530 and 4m @ 50.5g/t Au from 3m in MSRC544.
- The new RC results supplement those obtained from Phase 1 RC drilling at Ridge.
- The Company expects Ridge deposit to make a further positive contribution to Sandstone’s planned open pit mill recommissioning inventory.
- Results from McClaren and Plum Pudding are likely to be reported in the coming weeks.
The stock of Australia-based gold exploration player, Middle Island Resources Limited (ASX:MDI), marked a rise of 8.7 per cent to $0.025 (as at 12:19 PM AEST) following the release of further significant results from Phase 2 RC (reverse circulation) drilling undergoing at Sandstone project.
Middle Island has announced bonanza gold grades from recent Phase 2 RC drilling conducted at the new Ridge satellite deposit at Sandstone project. The new Ridge deposit is one of the five new satellite deposits discovered from Phase 1 RC drilling completed this year, with the other four being McClaren, McIntyre, Old Town Well and Plum Pudding.
Following the conclusion of Phase 1 RC drilling program, the Company is now progressing with Phase 2 RC and diamond drilling programs at Sandstone, focused at infilling and extending these five fresh satellite deposits. Till date, the Company has concluded over 40,000m of drilling in Phase 1 and Phase 2 in 2020.
Bonanza Gold Grades from Ridge Deposit
Middle Island has reported new drilling results from an additional 25 holes (1,050m) of infill and verification RC drilling finalised at the Ridge deposit under Phase 2 RC drilling campaign.
Ridge deposit is one of a cluster of three new proximal satellite gold deposits at Sandstone, including McClaren and McIntyre, which are hosted within the southeast extension of the Shillington banded iron formation (BIF) package, situated on granted Mining Lease M57/129 and 2.5km from the Company’s gold processing plant.
The below figure summarises better extension and verification RC drill intercepts derived from the Ridge deposit:
Out of these intercepts, 4m @ 99.5g/t (from 13m in MSRC530) and 4m @ 50.5g/t Au (from 3m in MSRC544) represent bonanza gold grade intercepts.
The Company notified that many of these new RC drill intercepts obtained from Ridge deposit are at very shallow depth. These shallow intercepts complement previous RC drilling results at Ridge deposit, including 13m @ 3.81g/t, 8m @ 4.14g/t, 5m @ 3.81g/t, 9m @ 2.21g/t and 3m @ 8.77g/t Au.
Gold Mineralisation at Ridge Deposit
The gold mineralisation at Ridge deposit is hosted in an 8m to 25m thick, shallow to steeply northeast-dipping banded iron formation (BIF) unit which is mineralised from the surface.
Middle Island reported that the assays for further 37 RC holes (1,261m), which have been finalised recently to define northern extensions to the Ridge deposit, are still pending. Subject to these drilling results at the northern extremity, the Company expects the Ridge mineralised zone to represent a further new open pit deposit that can make a meaningful contribution to Sandstone’s 2020 feasibility study (FS) that is now well advanced.
In other words, the Company anticipates the Ridge deposit to make a further positive contribution to Sandstone project’s planned open pit mill recommissioning inventory.
Way Ahead
Middle Island notified that that results from the Ridge RC holes are yet to be assessed while assays from the remaining two new satellite deposits at McClaren and Plum Pudding are expected to be announced in coming weeks.
Around 57 RC holes (~4,000m) are yet to be drilled before the completion of Phase 2 RC drilling campaign, incorporating reconnaissance RC drill traverses throughout the 1.1km-long Shillington Gap target between Ridge and Shillington gold deposits.
Management Commentary
