Greatland Gold shares were up 0.2% to 12.2p in late morning trading on Thursday, following the company’s development and exploration update from its Havieron gold-copper project in Western Australia.
Greatland Gold announced that the South East Crescent high grade zone had been identified as extending over 1,000 metres of continuous mineralisation, and remained open, alongside high grade results within the Northern Breccia which continued to demonstrate potential further high-grade mineralisation adjacent to the South East Crescent Zone.
The mining group is scheduled to launch an extensive drilling programme across the next 12 months to provide the opportunity to expand its Havieron asset.
The company reported it had seven drill rigs on site, which were all focused on growth targeting.
Its South East Crescent is set for continuous drilling to test for extensions to the resource, with drilling planned up to 400 metres below the Updated Mineral Resource.
The Eastern Breccia will see continued drilling to define its greater mineralised footprint, including definition of recently announced higher-grade zones, while the Northern Breccia drilling will be aimed to extending high-grade zones of mineralisation at depth.
Greatland Gold confirmed it would be drilling to define geophysical targets outside the primary Havieron system, with follow-up drilling scheduled at regional targets on the Havieron mining lease.
“The growth drilling programme continues to expand Havieron‘s mineralised system. The existing high grade mineralised zone of the South East Crescent now extends a further 100 metres below our previous Mineral Resource estimate,” said Greatland Gold managing director Shaun Day.
“Testament to the scale of Havieron, there is now continuous mineralisation observed over 1,000 metres of vertical extent with the system remaining open at depth.”
“With an extensive growth drilling programme planned over the next twelve months, there is tremendous potential to further expand the Havieron resource and unlock the true scale and value of the broader system.”
Drilling Results
The drilling programme revealed a slate of positive results, with HAD133W9 returning 85.8 metres at 3 grams per tonne in gold and 0.06% copper from 1,604 metres and 25.3 metres at 1.1 gram per tonne in gold, along with 0.08% copper from 1,471 metres.
Greatland Gold confirmed that high-grade results in the Northern Breccia reinforced the potential for additional high-grade sulphide mineralisation adjacent to the South East Crescent zone.
HAD055W4 returned 149.9 metres at 2.7 grams per tonne in gold and 0.12% copper from 877.4 metres, with 13.9 metres at 22.8 grams per tonnes in gold and 0.46% copper from 1,013 metres.
HAD055W5 further returned 39.6 metres at 2.8 gram per tonne in gold and 0.07% copper from 983.6 metres, and 0.5 metres at 96 grams per tonne in gold and 0.1% copper from 1,020.7 metres.
Improvements in early works
Greatland Gold confirmed its construction activities by Newcrest Mining were progressing, with an exploration decline advance of 377.5 metres at the close of May 2022, alongside a fully-commissioned fuel facility.
The firm mentioned that the decline experienced improved ground conditions across the June quarter, with advance rates showing improvement after alterations in the design of the decline brought the first downward spiral forward to the current advance position.
The change has allowed the decline to transition into more optimal ground conditions.
“Pleasingly, the decline has encountered better ground conditions, resulting in recent improvements to the decline advancement rates,” said Day.
The feasibility study under work by Newcrest Mining is reportedly progressing and key contracts have been awarded, with the feasibility study anticipated for delivery in the December 2022 quarter.