Recently relisted Aureka Limited (ASX: AKA) has scored some promising early signs at its Irvine gold project outside Stawell in Victoria, identifying sulphide mineralisation in core samples from its ongoing 2000-metre diamond drilling campaign.
The company says its recent data re-analysis has also unveiled a string of new targets from geophysical data, which clearly defined its existing gold-bearing Benno and Irvine basalt domes and have turned other encouraging lookalike targets.
Aureka says one hole, currently advancing towards its final depth, intercepted visible sulphide minerals within the Irvine Basalt and surrounding sedimentary sequences - a potential indicator of gold mineralisation.
Previous impressive sulphide-associated hits at Irvine include high-grade intervals of 5m running at 10 grams per tonne (g/t) gold, 9.4m going 5.3g/t gold and a 10.8m section grading at 4.5g/t gold.
The company says its targets at Irvine remain open along strike and at depth.
It is now aiming to drill into high-grade shoots at the Resolution lode to significantly expand and upgrade its existing resource.
Samples are being prepped for laboratory analysis and the results are expected in the coming weeks.
It is great to see significant on-ground progress at not only the Irvine Stawell Corridor project where the hint of early mineralisation will be followed up by lab analysis prior to hole completion, but also over at Tandarra where that diamond program is near completion. We have plenty to look forward to as results of drilling are interpreted in the weeks ahead.
Aureka Limited Managing Director James Gurry
The presence of acicular arsenopyrite, pyrrhotite, and minor chalcopyrite - all commonly associated with gold-bearing systems - has piqued management’s interest, however, Aureka cautions any mineralisation still requires confirmation via assays.
The current drilling focus is centred on the company’s Irvine project, which is 20 kilometres from the 5-million-ounce operating Stawell gold mine within Aureka’s broader Stawell Corridor landholding.
Irvine currently hosts a handsome 304,000-ounce gold resource grading 2.43g/t, which the company intends to expand by a further 280-420,000 ounces within the margins of its basalt domes.
Aureka also has a prominent joint venture project at Tandarra to the east, which is 50km northwest of Agnico Eagle’s world-class Fosterville gold operation and 40km north of the 22m-ounce Bendigo goldfields.
Beyond the drill bit, Victorian specialists Nordic Geosciences has reprocessed historical and modern geophysical data from Aureka’s Victorian projects.
The geophysical program delivered a series of new exploration targets within the company’s Stawell Corridor projects and at its St Arnaud tenements to the northeast.
Nordic says structural contrasts between magnetic sandstones and less magnetic shales have defined potential strike extensions of historic gold trends, outside the Stawell corridor at St Arnaud. Aureka intends to follow up the potential extensions with shallow drill programs later this year.
The geophysical findings sharpen Aureka’s drill targeting strategy, providing a pipeline of prospective zones for future campaigns as the reinvigorated company looks to rapidly advance its gold assets.
Aureka has sulphide assays in the pipeline, geophysical results that add fresh targets to the mix and about $5 million cash in the bank, which has set the company up nicely for a roaring return to exploration after it spent a few years on the sidelines.
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