Zenith Minerals’ Red Mountain breaking through the clouds as potential Mt Wright-style deposit

Zenith Minerals’ Red Mountain project could host Mt Wright-style gold mineralisation with potential for more gold to be found at depth.

Zenith’s Red Mountain could have more gold at depth. Pic: Getty Images

• Zenith Minerals’ Red Mountain project could host a Mt Wright-style intrusion-related gold system

• Review by RSC validates company’s belief that Red Mountain is shaping up as a major gold system

• Queensland grant sought to accelerate deep drilling and further geophysical studies at the project

Special Report: An independent technical review has found that Zenith Minerals’ Red Mountain project in Queensland exhibits all the hallmarks of a Mt Wright-style intrusion-related gold system.

This is hugely positive for the company as it highlights the potential scale and economic value of its virgin gold discovery at the project given the Mt Wright gold mine in central Queensland had estimated pre-mining resources of 9.8Mt at 3.35g/t, or 1.1Moz contained gold.

While early drilling by Zenith Minerals (ASX:ZNC) had outlined a breccia-hosted gold system, the review by geological consultancy RSC concluded that Red Mountain could represent a large vertically extensive IRGS with significant resource expansion potential at depth.

According to RSC’s review, which incorporated structural, geochemical, and geophysical analysis, “the mineralisation styles along with geochemical and structural indicators at Red Mountain are consistent with a vertically zoned IRGS, indicating significant mineralisation potential below the current drilling depth”.

It also supports a fractionated magmatic source to the gold mineralisation.

Deeper holes on the western flank of the prospect area also intersected wide zones of rhyolite hosted gold mineralisation, reinforcing the need for step-out drilling to test the deeper “gold window” identified in Mt Wright analogues.

"This independent review from RSC validates our thesis that Red Mountain is shaping up as a major gold system, comparable to Mt Wright,” managing director Andrew Smith said.

“This is a virgin discovery by Zenith, and only now are we realising the scale of what we have.

“With excellent infrastructure, a location in elephant country, and strong geological indicators, we are excited to progress our next phase of drilling and unlock Red Mountain’s full potential.”

Red Mountain

The Red Mountain project sits within Queensland’s Auburn Arch, a region known for its rich mineral endowment and hosting notable plays such as the multi-million ounce Cracow epithermal gold deposit.

It was discovered by the company in 2017 with successive exploration phases confirming its potential as a core asset in its gold portfolio.

To date, ZNC has drilled 63 holes – 49 reverse circulation and 13 diamond holes – totalling 10,972.7m.

Early shallow RC drilling produced high-grade intercepts such as 13m at 8g/t gold from surface and 5m at 10.4g/t from 67m while deeper drilling in 2023 confirmed the continuity of mineralisation at depth after returning a 129m intersection at 0.51g/t gold and 11.9g/t silver from 225m (ZRMDD052).

More recently, 2024 drilling to test four high-priority induced polarisation anomalies identified in the company’s updated 3D geological mode returned significant intercepts such as 23m at 1.49g/t from 48m and 4m at 4.45g/t from 122m.

These results demonstrate both near-surface and deeper potential for gold, silver and copper mineralisation.

Further activity

ZNC will now focus on deep diamond drilling along the flanks of the breccia system at Red Mountain.

This is in line with Mt Wright where the “gold window” is expected at depths greater than 200m and follows-up on the result from hole ZRMDD052.

To accelerate this phase of exploration, the company has submitted a Queensland Government grant application for up to $250,000, with a decision expected in February-March 2025.

If granted, this will provide critical funding for deep drilling and further geophysical studies, enabling a more detailed evaluation of mineralisation controls, depth extent and the potential causative intrusion at the project.

A 150m deep RC pre-collar was already drilled during the last RC campaign to facilitate deeper diamond drilling.

This pre-collar allows for efficient and cost-effective access to deep targets, specifically testing the hypothesis of a fractionated magma source beneath the breccia system.

Additionally, pending assays from previously drilled diamond core samples are expected to provide critical insights into the system’s broader geochemical and mineralogical framework.

And heading west, the company is also all approved and ready to begin a large-scale drill campaign over its Dulcie Far North gold project in the Forrestania Greenstone Belt, where it sees multiple open tracks to make that turn to production and ample room to build on its established JORC resource.

This article was developed in collaboration with Zenith Minerals, a Stockhead advertiser at the time of publishing.

This article does not constitute financial product advice. You should consider obtaining independent advice before making any financial decisions.

Originally published as Zenith Minerals’ Red Mountain breaking through the clouds as potential Mt Wright-style deposit