INAUGURAL DRILLING PROGRAM AT TREASURE ISLAND CONFIRMS DISCOVERY OF A NEW GOLD CAMP
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Focus Minerals Ltd (ASX:FML), an Australian gold producer, announced today the discovery of a new gold camp at the Company’s 100% owned Treasure Island Gold Project, 35km south-south east along strike from the major gold camp of St Ives at Kambalda (see Figure 1) in Western Australia’s Eastern Goldfields.
An inaugural 23 hole drilling program has shown the high-grade mineralised vein structures mapped on the island extend at depth under the salt lake, with more than 50% of the significant intercepts over 10g/t.
Fine visible gold has been seen in most mineralised veins with the discovery of multiple new vein systems under the lake and some veins from the island showing greater width at depth.
“We are clearly dealing with an extensive mineralised system of a style that is very similar to that seen at the St Ives gold camp which has produced between 400,000 to 500,000oz of gold per annum for the last ten years,” said Focus Chief Executive Officer Campbell Baird.
“The results over 1km of strike are delivering exceptionally high grade intercepts with new and existing mineralised veins appearing to be open in all directions.
“There are not many other places in the Goldfields today where anyone is finding these kinds of grades on the surface and at depth, so we are very buoyed by this first round of results. We are only just beginning to understand the potential in this region.”
Mr Baird said the drilling program at Treasure Island was now focusing on stepping out from the first holes and looking at other prospects across the lake with the mobilisation of a lake aircore rig that has commenced a +10,000 metre programme along a 6km strike of favourable geology.
The Treasure Island Gold Project, comprises 226km2 of tenements situated on Lake Cowan. The initial drill programme has seen a lake diamond drill rig complete 23 holes for 3,165m at the Black Dog and Blind Pew prospects (see Figure 2), with drilling conducted from the lake bed.
The drilling at Black Dog (see Figure 3) has intersected mineralised quartz veins (see Figure 4) with fine visible gold (see Figure 5) and associated disseminated and blebby sulphides (mainly pyrrhotite). The most recent holes drilled at Blind Pew to the south (see Figure 6) have also shown an increased level of silicification and albite alteration, with the abundance of disseminated sulphides increasing.
The presence and increase of silicification and albite alteration, in association with the increase in blebby sulphides, is extremely encouraging as this style of alteration is very important throughout the Goldfields region as it normally indicates a more highly prospective part of a mineralised gold system. This style of mineralisation identified at Treasure Island is very similar to the St Ives style of gold mineralisation at Kambalda.
The drilling at Black Dog and Blind Pew has also intersected multiple, previously unknown, mineralised vein structures under the lake. The down hole widths of the mineralised veins are almost true widths. The widths of mineralised veins being intersected in the drilling at depth is extremely encouraging as they are much wider than the veins mapped on the island.
Additionally, one hole at Black Dog has also intersected a lamprophyre. This is a very important and exciting piece of the puzzle at Treasure Island as lamprophyres are an intrusive rock that are commonly associated with lode gold deposits in Archaean terranes around the world. In the Yilgarn terrane in Western Australia (which includes the Goldfields), lamprophyres are found at many high-grade, million ounce plus deposits.
Focus is beginning to open up an exciting new gold camp at its Treasure Island Gold project. Diamond drilling will continue aggressively, and has now been joined by a lake aircore rig (see Figure 7) which has already commenced drilling favourable geology and geophysical targets along a 6km strike. This will enable Focus to start to accelerate the early phase of exploration at this newly discovered gold system and start to unlock a 15km2 area around the island.