Westgold Resources has announced that the drill intercept results at the Great Fingall Project at the company’s Murchison Operation in Western Australia display the potential for early production.
The Fingall Flats target relates to relatively flat orientated mineralised quartz reefs located in the footwall of the historic, steeply dipping Great Fingall Reef, which produced 1.2Moz of gold around the turn of last century.
Recent drill intercepts at the site include:
- 3.03m at 547g/t gold (Au) from 204.87m in hole 24GFDD022
- 17.05m at 8.88g/t Au from 114.00m in hole 24GFDD013
- 6.00m at 22.13g/t Au from 43.00m in hole 24GFDD014
- 13.92m at 7.01g/t Au from 125.00m in hole 24GFDD015
- 20.6m at 4.34g/t Au from 59.4m in hole 24GFDD014
- 7.6m at 5.14g/t Au from 5.4m in hole 24GFDD016
Westgold Resources said that the shallow areas of Great Fingall presents as an attractive opportunity for potential early production whilst the new decline advances to the virgin parts of the Great Fingall Reef at depth.
The latest drilling targeted shallow areas that host remnant sections of the Great Fingall Reef, including high grade reef selvedges (altered wall rock adjacent to the Great Fingall Reef) and flat lying reefs in the footwall, known as the Fingall Flats. These structures are mineralised and are expected to require minimal development capital to extract due to the existing decline’s close proximity.
A drill out of the shallow areas of Great Fingall has been ongoing since the start of 2024, with drilling currently focused on resource definition of the Sovereign Reef opportunity, which is located between Great Fingall and Golden Crown.
The campaign is expected to continue drilling the remnant Great Fingall Reef material in the near surface environment, before returning to grade control drilling of the Fingall Flats and selvedge area as soon as a suitable drill platform is developed.
A large volume of assays from the initial campaign of selvedge and Fingall Flats drilling remain outstanding.
Westgold Resources said that results returned to date suggest that significant volumes of high-grade gold mineralisation exist immediately below and adjacent to the open pit in both the reef selvedge and Fingall Flats including:
- Reef selvedge – 17.05m at 8.88g/t Au from 114.00m in 24GFDD01
- Fingall Flats – 6.00m at 22.13g/t Au from 43.00m and 20.6m at 4.34g/t Au from 59.4m in 24GFDD014
- 13.92m at 7.01g/t Au from 125.00m in 24GFDD015
- 7.6m at 5.14g/t Au from 5.4m in 24GFDD016.
The recent intersection of 3.00m at 547g/t Au from 204.87m in drill hole 24GFDD022 extends the Fingall Flats lodes below their previously interpreted base.
Westgold Resources said that whilst it is too early to quantify the overall grade and extent of this shallow mineralisation, it is worth noting that there exists a region of 275 vertical metres below this zone where the Great Fingall Reef, selvedge and Fingall Flats are effectively untested and currently modelled as mined out.
Westgold Managing Director and CEO, Wayne Bramwell, said, “The Fingall Flats represent an early, shallow mining opportunity that could be executed in parallel to advancing the new Fingall decline to the deeper and virgin parts of the iconic Great Fingall Reef.
“The 3.03m at 547g/t Au drill interval is spectacular and these latest results have extended the high-grade flat structures mined by historic operators below their previously interpreted base.
“A drill platform for final grade control of the Fingall Flats area is being designed now with Westgold targeting access into this area in Q4, FY24 and first production expected early in FY25.”
Featured image: Great Fingall open pit wall. Image credit: Westgold Resources.
