These two intercepts are now interpreted to lie along a shear zone – called ‘Zone #9’, which based on host rock similarities, sulphide associations and similar gold grades and widths, may be connected to the West Deep zone, down-dip of Zone #9, which is currently defined down to 940 vertical meters.
In the release, R. David Russell, Galleon Gold’s president and CEO, noted how this most recent discovery speaks to the near-surface potential at the property.
“These latest results are a major confirmation that larger and higher grade gold zones can occur within 300 metres of the surface. The robust grades and widths to the mineralization in these areas will be key contributors in driving project economics at West Cache.”
The West Deep discovery hole, completed in 2010, returned 11 metres of 9.21 g/t gold.
The 15,000-metre exploration program underway at the project will now have two portions: one focused on infilling known gold zones to support an upcoming resource update and preliminary economic assessment (PEA), with the second aimed at exploring Zone #9 and identifying areas with similar potential.
According to the press release, “the high-grade nature of the recent discovery intercepts this close to the surface are not typical of the better known ‘infill areas’…”
Once a private placement, raising up to C$8-million, is complete, Galleon plans to increase its core logging and sampling capacity, to handle an expanded exploration program.
Total pit-constrained and underground resources at West Cache, based on an estimate from 2013, stand at 8.7 million indicated tonnes, at 2.17 g/t gold, for 609,000 gold oz. with a further 6.3 million inferred tonnes, at 2.31 g/t gold, containing an additional 470,000 gold oz.
The West Cache project lies along the Porcupine-Destor gold belt and is approximately 7 km northeast of Pan American Silver’s Timmins West mine and 14 km southwest of Newmont’s Hollinger mine.
(This article first appeared in the Canadian Mining Journal)
