Spartan Resources has made a third new gold discovery at its flagship Dalgaranga gold project in Western Australia.
The new prospect, Freak, is located 110m immediately south of the Pepper deposit within the area Spartan is currently developing underground infrastructure for Dalgaranga.
The discovery was made through follow-up wedge holes drilled at the original Pepper discovery hole (DGDH093), which intersected 23.63m at 2.39 grams per tonne (g/t) gold from 503.5m down-hole, including 3m at 11.36g/t.
The follow-up holes have returned multiple high-grade intercepts in the new mineralised position that remains open down-plunge. It sits in a similar orientation to Pepper and the Never Never deposit, exhibiting identical alteration styles and mineralogy to both high-grade discoveries at Dalgaranga.
“Having successfully wedged a series of daughter holes off the discovery hole, DGDH093, we are now confident to confirm another exciting gold discovery at the Dalgaranga gold project – the Freak gold prospect named after another gin variety produced by the Never Never distillery – sitting directly along strike from Pepper,” Spartan interim executive chair Simon Lawson said.
“We now have three assayed drill intercepts separated by roughly 30m defining a new high-grade zone in a similar position and distance to where we predicted the 0.43Moz (million ounces) Pepper gold deposit would be from the 1.48Moz Never Never gold deposit.
“Importantly, the Freak gold mineralisation remains open in all directions with the core looking remarkably similar to what we are very familiar with from Never Never and Pepper.”
The Freak discovery was made ahead of Spartan’s planned maiden ore reserve upgrade for Pepper, which is scheduled for the first half of 2025. The company is also expected to release a feasibility study during that time.
“With multiple rigs on the task, you can be sure we will rapidly define this new target with the aim of directly adding more ounces to our resource inventory, all along-strike of our two main high-grade gold deposits,” Lawson said.
“A third gold discovery by our team is another incredible outcome for Spartan and its shareholders, and is once again a testament to both to the ability of our team and an undeniable endorsement of the endowment of this high-grade gold system.”
Spartan is also continuing its exploration drill drive, dubbed the Juniper decline, alongside Barminco. Twin decline development is advancing well, with over 550m completed to date.
Spartan has received all key regulatory approvals to commence underground mining and processing operations at Dalgaranga, and a tender for underground drilling is nearing completion, with drilling activities expected to commence in the first quarter of 2025.
“With the Juniper decline making steady progress, it won’t be long before we establish underground drilling positions and accelerate the rate and accuracy of resource drilling and underground exploration,” Lawson said.
“In the short term, our focus is on delivering the MRE (mineral resource estimate) upgrade next month and continuing an aggressive drill-out program at Freak aimed at advancing and growing this new discovery.”
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