Spartan swimming in gold

Spartan Resources has intersected gold within broad mineralised zones close to the Pepper prospect, which is part of its flagship Dalgaranga gold project in Western Australia.

The new prospect has delivered high-grade assays 110m south and along-strike of Pepper, which was discovered in April.

The intercept, 23.63m at 2.39 grams per tonne (g/t) of gold from a 503.50m down-hole, including 3m at 11.36g/t, is identical to the Never Never and Pepper prospects in terms of alteration style, containing sericite/chlorite and visible gold.

“As systematic in-fill and extensional drilling of the exceptionally high-grade Pepper gold deposit continues at pace, the Spartan team has intersected a new zone of visible gold with high-grade assays just 110 metres to the south of Pepper,” Spartan interim executive chair Simon Lawson said.

“The intercept position is analogous to the discovery of the Pepper gold deposit in April, when we were drilling south of the Never Never gold deposit.

“Pepper was discovered by predicting another high-grade fold shoot adjacent to the 1.48Moz (million ounces) at 8.07g/t gold Never Never gold deposit – and it looks like we may be onto another.”

Spartan is prioritising the new intercept by conducting follow-up down-hole wedge drilling at the drillhole (DGDH093) with a fourth diamond drill rig.

“In addition, the other 2–3 diamond drill rigs have finished the in-fill component of the current Pepper gold deposit campaign and are now focused on drilling growth holes at depth and along-strike,” Lawson said.

Spartan is also continuing its exploration drill drive, dubbed the Juniper decline, alongside Barminco. Twin portal development is advancing well, with over 300m completed to date, and a tender for underground diamond drilling is currently underway, with drilling activities expected to commence in the first quarter of 2025.

“Both the Never Never and Pepper gold deposits remain open at depth,” Lawson said.

“We are rapidly advancing underground towards Never Never right now and soon we will begin underground drilling. Add to this the potential for even more discoveries in the immediate near-mine environment – all on the doorstep of a fully established modern processing facility and infrastructure – and it’s not hard to see why the Spartan high-grade value proposition is continuing to go from strength to strength.”

The new discovery near Pepper follows Spartan selling its Glenburgh and Egerton gold projects to Benz Mining in order to focus on growing Dalgaranga.

Subscribe to Australian Mining and receive the latest news on product announcements, industry developments, commodities and more.