Superior Gold drills 83.2 g/t gold over 3.2 metres at Plutonic, Australia
Superior Gold Inc. [SGI-TSXV; SUPGF-OTC] reported additional high-grade drill results from its continuing underground diamond drill program at its 100%-owned Plutonic gold mine in Western Australia.
Plutonic is a world-class Archean lode-style gold mineralized system that has produced close to six million ounces of gold over 32 years of continuous operation and encompasses a Measured and Indicated Mineral Resource of 1.89 million ounces together with an Inferred Mineral Resource of 3.07 million ounces. The company’s expanding exploration effort underpins a commitment to resource growth.
Results are provided for 9 underground exploration drill holes, drilled from November 2021 to January 2022, for a total of 1,662 metres of drilling. This drilling was focused on extending and infilling the Western Mining Front, which includes the Baltic West and Baltic West Extension Zones. The Western Mining Front is yet to be fully drill tested and remains open along strike and both up and down dip.
Highlights, all from the Baltic West Extension Zone, included drill hole UDD24885 that intersected 83.2 g/t gold over 3.2 metres, including 208.7 g/t over 1.0 metre. Drill hole UDD25060 intersected 203 g/t gold over 1.0 metre. Drill hole UDD25059 intersected 4.3 g/t gold over 11.9 metres.
The results announced today to expand the Western Mining Front by a further 130 metres, are directly adjacent to existing underground infrastructure, thus requiring minimal capital to develop the area.
Chris Jordaan, President and CEO, stated: “Today’s drill results continue to support the company’s strategy of opening new high-grade mining fronts at Plutonic. The targeted drilling is consistent with the company’s stated growth strategy to accelerate exploration and identify new mining fronts in order to further improve mining grades, increase productivity, extend mine life and reduce remnant mining in 2022 and beyond.
“When combined with the latest drilling results released in the third quarter of 2021, today’s results show continued extensions of the western edge of the Plutonic deposit for an additional 130 metres along the entire Western Mining Front. Today’s results give us further confidence that high-grade extensions of the Plutonic orebody can be systematically targeted. They are located in the Baltic West Extension Zone and build upon previous results such as drill hole UDD24141 in the Caspian Zone, which intersected 42.2 g/t gold over 5.6 metres, and hole UDD24589A in the Baltic Extension Zone, which intersected 11.9 g/t gold over 7.6 metres.
“The expansion into new mining fronts is a key component of our current strategy to extend Plutonic’s mine life and increase production by improving our mining grades and efficiencies. Our ongoing drill programs will continue to infill the Western Mining Front and other proximal targets to focus on reserve and resource expansion as drill platforms become available.”
Superior Gold’s mine exploration program is designed to open new mining fronts by targeting extensions of high-grade mineralization that are close to existing infrastructure but outside of the current Mineral Resources. Numerous significant historical high-grade intercepts, both throughout and peripheral to the large mineralized Plutonic system, have yet to be followed up. The immediate focus is on expanding key areas to open new mining fronts in the Western Mining Front (which includes the Caspian, Indian Baltic and Baltic Extension Zones).
The Western Mining Front extends approximately 1.6 km along the western edge of the Caspian, Indian, Baltic and now Baltic Extension Zones of the Plutonic underground mine. It remains open, with several historic high-grade intercepts confirming mineralization outside of Mineral Resources.
Today’s near-mine exploration drill results extend from the Caspian Zone and Baltic Zones to the Baltic Extension Zone covering approximately 300 metres of the northwest extension of the Western Mining Front. Results are clustered in two general areas: Baltic West and Baltic Extension Zones.
The Western Mining Front Zone results include 83.2 g/t gold over 3.2 metres, including 208.7 g/t over 1.0 metres intersected in hole UDD24885, which is approximately 130 metres, and 4.3 g/t gold over 11.9 metres , in hole UDD25059 located approximately 30 metres from current existing mining infrastructure respectively. Another high-grade intercept of 203 g/t gold over 1.0 metre in hole UDD25060 was sampled approximately 30 metres from the existing development.
The Plutonic Gold Operations include the Plutonic underground gold mine and central mill, numerous open-pit projects including the Plutonic Main Pit push-back project, the Hermes open pit projects, and an interest in the Bryah Basin joint venture.