Alto Metals’ latest results from a 5000m phase-two drilling program at its 3km-long Indomitable gold camp have handed the company a string of remarkable gold runs in assays from deep oxide zones.
Significant results from the reverse-circulation (RC) program include an oxide intercept of 15m at 3.1 grams per tonne gold from 32m downhole, including 8m at 5g/t gold from 32m that includes a high-grade sweetener of 1m running 22.2g/t gold from 33m. Two other respective oxide runs of 15m and 16m reported in the 1g/t to 2g/t gold range, including higher-grade central zones from 5g/t to 10g/t, with one of the holes including a separate 1m at 18.9g/t gold from 83m.
Fresh rock hits include two longer runs of 11m at 1g/t gold from 159m, including 2m at 2.7g/t from 159m, and 6m at 2.2g/t from 193m, including 1m at 6.4g/t from 193m.
Two further holes ranging in depth from 2m to 3m in fresh rock about 90m to 100m downhole offer up grades of 4.2g/t and 4.9g/t gold respectively. They include higher-grade zones of 1m at 7.6g/t and 1m at 12.9g/t, respectively. An additional 1m intercept ran 11.3g/t gold from 237m.
This second phase of drilling at Indomitable was, for the first time, targeting the interpreted high-grade structures at depth. Our drilling has shown that mineralisation remains open at depth with higher grades typically observed where these faults intersect the steeper plunging interpreted structures. We are awaiting assays for the final seven RC holes of this program. Following this we plan to commence diamond drilling for structural information and continue further RC drilling. Alto Metals managing director Matthew Bowles
The company says the deepest hole of the program was designed to follow up the potential for down-dip extension of a previously-drilled deep oxide intercept of 10m at 4.2g/t gold from 154m. It successfully intercepted 1m at 11.3g/t gold from 237m downhole in fresh rock, in addition to a broad halo of 34m at 0.6g/t gold from 275m that includes 4m at 2.1g/t gold.
The Indomitable campaign was designed to target interpreted high-grade structures identified from last year’s drilling and to test down-dip and down-plunge extensions of existing mineralisation in primary rock to vertical depths of about 250m below surface – the deepest drilling to date.
Previously-revealed assay results from the first four RC holes of the program confirmed further significant gold mineralisation within a deeply-weathered oxide zone to a downhole depth of 184m, including 24m at 2.2g/t gold from 160m and16m at 3g/t from 167m.
The latest results come from 18 holes drilled for a total of 3234m and Alto says it confirms the interception of more thick zones of shallow oxide gold mineralisation to remarkable depths for oxidised rock locally and further high-grade primary gold mineralisation to depths of about 250m below surface.
The Indomitable gold camp is defined by more than 3km of strike length and lies within a more than 20km-long north-west/south-east-trending gold corridor, which also hosts the Bull Oak, Vanguard and Havilah deposits. The significant oxide depths intercepted in drilling at Indomitable appear to confirm its proximity to significant and potentially regional-scale faulting or shearing.
Alto’s Sandstone gold project covers 740 square kilometres of the Sandstone greenstone belt and has an optimised, open-pit constrained mineral resource estimate of 832,000 ounces of gold at 1.5g/t, capturing more than 80 per cent of the unconstrained total mineral resource estimate of 1.05 million ounces. The resources are shallow, with more than 90 per cent within 150m from surface. Alto says it is now focused on growing its resources through continued exploration and new discoveries.
Assays from another seven RC holes are still pending from about 1200m of work and the planning for diamond drilling at Indomitable is well advanced. Management says follow-up work will also include diamond drilling at its Bull Oak zone to the north-west, followed by a further 5000m to 10,000m of extensional and resource RC drilling to target high-grade primary mineralisation.
It has also forecast an additional 5000m of extensional and resource RC drilling at Vanguard and a first-pass RC drilling program at multiple historic gold workings within the Hacks West area for high-grade reef-style mineralisation, in addition to exploring regional targets.
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