Artemis Resources Limited has provided an update on the continuing drill programmes on its 100 per cent-owned Carlow Castle operation in the Pilbara region of Western Australia.
Artemis outlines that the 60 per cent completed diamond drilling programme is already viewed as being extremely successful due to the intersections received from the very first hole.
Figure 1 shows diamond drill hole 20CCAD003, a deep test of the mineralised system, was targeted at intersecting the system at approximately 600 metres vertical depth and 250 metres below the previous deepest mineralised intercepts.
20CCAD003 has identified an entirely new mineralised zone hosted within an adjacent gabbroic dyke of 4 metres at 11.1 grams per tonne (g/t) of gold (Au), 2.01 per cent copper (Cu) and 0.18 per cent cobalt (Co) in the footwall to the previously known mineralisation.
Artemis details that analytical results for the lower NQ size core are complete and show the main mineralised zone continues to about 630 metres vertical depth.
The high-grade result is hosted within the gabbroic dyke and the main zone mineralisation is hosted within altered chloritic basalts.
This could be a feeder zone from the main 2019 JORC Resource mineralisation, however further drilling is required to confirm that.
Given the visual results of 20CCAD003, the company drilled a second hole (20CCAD007). The processing of this core has been completed and assays are awaited, however, sulphidic zones have been identified in the inferred up-dip positions of the mineralised zones.
The upper of these zones is hosted within the gabbro and the lower is within altered basalts.
Another feature of 20CCAD003 was numerous very fine-grained chert units hosting disseminated pyrrhotite (1-2 per cent); yet Artemis states that it is unknown if these units are potentially mineralised and how they relate to the Carlow Au-Cu-Co mineralised system.
Diamond hole 20CCAD007 finished prematurely due to technical issues but did transverse most of the target zone. In addition to the deep drilling outlined above, 2,131 metres of shallow infill and resource growth diamond drilling has been completed with another 1010 metres to be completed.
RC Drilling Campaign
A 32 hole reverse circulation (RC) drilling programme of 4,156 metres has also been completed (refer Figure 2 for collar plan) and samples are in for assay.
A detailed AMAG survey has been completed and an IP survey programme is due to start soon in advance of a further 10,000 metres of follow-up RC drilling to begin early December.
Whilst the current saturation of samples in the laboratories is affecting many in the industry, Artemis is expecting results from the RC drilling programme and further diamond core results to continue to flow from today through to January 2021.
Executive Director or Artemis Resources Limited, Alastair Clayton, said the targeting and successful discovery of high-grade gold and copper over 250 metres below the bottom of the 2019 MRE from the very first deep hole just highlights the potential size of the gold and copper mineralised system at Carlow Castle.
“We feel exploration to date has only scratched the surface of what might be present. As such and despite only having around half the assays back from the first hole, we have, based on visual core inspections, followed up with 20CCAD007 to test for vertical continuity and 20CCAD008, 120 metres to the West, to test for strike continuity of this possible high-grade feeder zone,” Mr Clayton said.
“These are only the first few assays back from our multi-rig Carlow Castle exploration programme and we now expect regular assays and updates from today through to January 2021. Elsewhere in our portfolio we expect to provide a detailed update from our Paterson Central Project in early December.”
Artemis’ full announcement can be found here.