AUS
NZ
UK
CA
USA
IND
Summary
- Middle Island announced new assay results from Old Town Well deposit as part of its Phase 2 RC drilling campaign.
- Grades of up to 20.6 g/t gold have been declared in assays from drilling of 44 new RC holes on Old Town Well.
- Results complement those derived from Phase 1 RC drilling at Old Town Well.
- Old Town Well satellite deposit will now be assessed as part of Sandstone’s current feasibility study.
- The Company is expected to announce assays for the remaining three new satellite gold deposits in the coming weeks.
Middle Island Resources Limited (ASX:MDI) has reported another set of robust assays from its ongoing Phase 2 RC (reverse circulation) drilling campaign at Sandstone project.
Following the key update, MDI stock is trading ~4.35 per cent higher at $0.024 as at 12:21 PM AEST.
The Company has announced further significant gold results from Old Town Well deposit that was identified as third new gold deposit by the Phase 1 RC drilling campaign in the first half of CY2020. The Old Town Well satellite deposit is located just 600m north of the Company’s Sandstone gold processing plant within permitted Mining Lease M57/128.
Middle Island is progressing with Phase 2 RC and diamond drilling programs to infill and extend five new satellite open pit gold deposits discovered in Phase 1 RC drilling campaign. The Company has already completed more than 37,000m of drilling under Phase 1 and Phase 2 drilling campaigns so far in 2020.
Assay Results from Old Town Well Deposit
The Company has declared grades of up to 20.6 g/t gold from drilling of 44 RC holes (2,179m) on Old Town Well deposit under its Phase 2 RC drilling campaign. These new assay results comprise broad, consistent, shallow drill intercepts over a 60m aggregate width and 340m strike length.
The figure below summarises better infill and extension RC drill intercepts obtained from the Old Town Well deposit:
Amongst these intercepts, 3m at 20.6g/t Au is a remarkably pleasing outcome, as it exhibits the presence of locally higher grades at Old Town Well deposit that have not earlier been apparent to any significant extent.
The assays from Phase 2 RC drilling complement those better drill intercepts produced in the Phase 1 RC campaign at Old Town Well, including:
- 24m @ 1.66g/t Au (from surface in MSRC351),
- 20m @ 0.87g/t (from 32m depth in MSRC366),
- 8m @ 2.17g/t (from 24m depth in MSRC368), and
- 8m @ 1.45g/t Au (from 36m depth in MSRC371).
Gold Mineralisation at Old Town Well
The Phase 2 RC drilling has discovered that saprolite gold mineralisation at Old Town Well deposit is closely linked with a steeply northwest-dipping and northeast-trending felsic dyke that intrudes ultramafic rocks.
The gold mineralisation at the deposit seems to be connected with zones of quartz veining and silica-carbonate-pyrite alteration that predominantly occur within or immediately adjacent to the dyke. Consequently, the entire deposit is covered by a near-surface, gold mineralised laterite blanket.
Given the broad zones of quartz veining and intense silica-carbonate-pyrite alteration in the primary zone at Old Town Well, Middle Island observes drilling to date as peripheral to far more substantial gold mineralisation at depth, beyond the scope of the ongoing drilling campaign.
The Company expects Old Town Well to represent a larger, but modest grade, low stripping ratio, oxide open pit gold deposit, most of which is shallow, comprising a blanket of mineralised laterite from surface. The Company further anticipates this deposit to contribute towards a positive feasibility study outcome.
Moving forward, Middle Island intends to estimate a Mineral Resource (to notional Indicated status) of Old Town Well deposit, before completing pit optimisations to determine the deposit’s potential to contribute to Ore Reserves in the Sandstone Feasibility Study. Additionaly, the Company is likely to announce Phase 2 drilling results for the remaining three new satellite open pit gold deposits in the coming weeks.
Planned September Quarter Activities
