Kingston Resources begins stage II drilling at Quartz Mountain targeting gold resource upgrade
Kingston Resources Limited (ASX:KSN) has started a stage II drilling program in the Quartz Mountain region of Misima Gold Project in Papua New Guinea.
The aim of the program is to upgrade the existing 220,000-ounce Ewatinona inferred resource, test for resource extensions and follow-up recent high-grade results at the Abi prospect.
After completing the stage I program, Kingston has updated the geological model for Quartz Mountain to incorporate recent drilling and exploration data.
Work will help upgrade inferred resource
Managing director Andrew Corbett said: “It is fantastic to see our recent work on advancing our understanding of the Misima geology pay off at Quartz Mountain.
“This work is expected to help upgrade the existing 220,000-ounce inferred resource at Ewatinona to indicated status, which is an important step in delivering a starter pit for the project.
“We are also pleased to be back drilling in the Quartz Mountain area, with the aim of upgrading and expanding the Ewatinona resource and following-up our exciting first hit at Abi.”
Corbett added: “The potential to delineate high-grade, near-surface ounces within this region is outstanding, with the Quartz Mountain area representing a high priority target to build on our existing 2.8-million-ounce resource base.
“The close proximity of this area to existing roads and the short haulage distance to the historical mill location could provide material benefits to our future development strategy.
“We also expect to have further drilling results from both Misima North and Umuna East to report in the near term.”
Geological review
An extensive internal review of Quartz Mountain geological data complemented by recent Kingston drilling, geochemical data and structural mapping has concluded that mineralisation in the area is primarily structurally controlled.
Previous interpretations had mineralisation controlled by lithological contacts between the greenstone unit and porphyry/marble.
The structural regime of the area is defined by a series of intersecting northwest, west-northwest and north-south trending high angle near-vertical faults.
Many of the historical holes are interpreted to have missed or poorly tested the mineralisation, as they were drilled at a near-vertical angle reducing the likelihood of intersecting the vertical structures.
Kingstons updated interpretation will inform exploration activities in the region going forward, including the stage II drilling.
Stage II program
Drilling at Abi will follow-up on the high-grade intersection from Hole GDD044, which returned 23.6 metres at 2.91g/t gold from 7.4 metres, including 13.5 metres at 4.60 g/t from 17.5 metres, as well as testing structural targets identified from the initial drilling program and recent fieldwork.
The breccia unit is interpreted to be steep dipping to the north-east, potentially controlled by the north-west trending, north east-dipping Abi fault.
Results from the remaining three holes in the initial Abi program identified more limited mineralisation over narrower or deeper intercepts suggesting that mineralisation could be concentrated in west-north-west and east-west and north-south trending structures in that area.
Ewatinona geology
A recent review of historical blast-hole and open-pit geology data at Ewatinona has confirmed observations from Kingston Resources drilling that the mineralisation is hosted by steep-dipping, stacked structures with west-north-west to north-west trends.
Concept grade shell modelling of mineralisation trends incorporating historical drilling and Kingston drill holes using Leapfrog® and the identified geolRead More – Source
