Albion Resources hits 12 for 12 and delivers high-grade gold prize at Yandal West

Albion Resources’ drilling is off to a flying start with all 12 first holes at the Collavilla prospect returning gold intersections.

Albion Resources has proved the gold prospectivity of its Yandal West project Pic: Getty Images

• Albion Resources hits high-grade, near-surface gold in the Yandal Greenstone Belt

• First assays confirm the presence of a gold system ready for thorough exploration

• More results from drilling and an ongoing gravity survey pending

Special Report: Albion Resources’ belief in the prospectivity of the Yandal West project has been validated by assays showing that all first 12 drill holes targeting Collavilla prospect intersected near-surface gold and shares more than doubled to a 3-year high of 16c.

Assays for the holes, which had an average depth of about 44m and tested a 100m by 100m area within the 4km by 750m Ives Find prospective granite intrusive, returned results such as:

● 11m grading 20g/t gold from a down-hole depth of 17m including 5m at 38.9g/t in
ALBRC006;
● 12m at 1.3g/t Au from 4m including 1m at 6g/t in ALBRC007; and
● 9m at 1.6g/t Au from 11m including 6m at 2.3g/t in ALBRC009.

Albion Resources’ (ASX:ALB) new geological interpretation suggests that high-grade veins like those intersected in ALBRC006 strongly correlate with thicker bands of mafic greenstone structurally entrained within the Ives Find granite.

This indicates that finding additional dense mafic rafts will be critical for future exploration success.

The company is also carrying out a detailed gravity survey across the Ives Find granite that targets subtle denser zones – such as mafic rafts or dolerite dykes.

Additionally, drilling to follow-up on an historical intersection of 3m at 15g/t Au has been completed with assays pending.

“This is a phenomenal start to our drilling at Collavilla. Every completed hole has intersected gold, including a standout 11m at 20.0g/t from just 17m depth,” chief executive officer Peter Goh said.

“These shallow, high-grade results confirm the presence of a gold system and we’ve only tested a small portion of the broader Ives Find footprint, which spans 4km by 750m.

“With assays still pending and a detailed gravity survey underway to refine targets, Albion is building strong momentum as we work to understand the scale of this system.”

Interpreted cross section showing recent highlight assays results close to surface at Collavilla. Pic: Albion Resources

Yandal West

Yandal West sits within the Yandal Belt, the remote and underexplored region in Western Australia that nonetheless fuels more than 500,000ozpa of gold production for Northern Star Resources (ASX:NST).

Albion recently started its maiden reverse circulation drill program to test the high priority Collavilla, Collavilla East, Collavilla West and Barwidgee Central gold targets with 28 holes totalling 1871m completed to date.

Drilling at Collavilla targeted shallow, up-dip extensions of known mineralisation to assess near-surface gold potential, an objective that appears to have been met.

Hole ALBRC006 returned the best intercept to date on the western edge of the prospect adjacent to two historical shafts.

The quartz vein mineralisation is surrounded by a broader halo of gold mineralisation within the altered granite with gold grades ranging from 0.1g/t to 0.5g/t.

Meanwhile, the shallow follow-up holes ALBRC007 and ALBRC009 intersected vein-hosted and halo-style mineralisation near voids left by historical shafts.

These results are highly encouraging and have significantly expanded the near surface portion of any possible target zones that may be defined in the future.

At the southwestern extension, several holes intersected narrow quartz-sulphide veins and broad hematite-sericite-pyrite altered granite halos while holes in the northern extension intersected some narrow gold-bearing veins and broader intervals of altered granite with modest gold.

Next steps

ALB is awaiting results of the ongoing gravity survey, which are expected in the coming weeks, to assist in the planning of follow-up drilling at Collavilla and regional prospects to locate concealed gold mineralisation associated with mafic zones.

Assays are also pending from the remaining RC holes completed with results expected within two weeks.

Phase 1 drilling will resume following a short break with ~1100m of drilling to be completed.

Targets will be refined using geological interpretation and upcoming gravity results.

These include drilling at Collavilla to test down-dip extensions of significant intersections such as 4m at 6.1g/t gold as well as other targets across the broader Ives Find prospect area, following up on a previous high-grade hit of 4m at 9g/t gold at Barwidgee prospect pending final heritage approvals and exploration drilling at May Queen prospect.

This article was developed in collaboration with Albion Resources, 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.