Hillgrove announces drilling results from Sumba gold project
Wednesday, July 28 2010 - 03:58 AM WIB
The Masu project comprises the Pahandanjal, Okajara and Kanjilu prospects located within a hydrothermal alteration system confirmed over an 8km strike length
Hillgrove CEO Drew Simonsen said ?For an initial drill campaign, we are certainly seeing the results we were hoping for. We continue to encounter gold mineralisation over a very large area at Masu and our initial scout drilling has confirmed the presence of gold at depth.?
In addition to the quality of the drill results, this initial drilling campaign has also yielded valuable information on the style and nature of mineralisation.
?We are dealing with quite a large system and typically for this type of exploration target, the discovery process is one of steadily increasing our knowledge and understanding of what we have encountered. With this in mind, we have mobilised a second, larger drill rig to target deeper positions, which will free up the scout rig to investigate the numerous targets in front of us. However one may choose to look at Masu, we feel we are on to something special,? Simonsen said.
Drilling
First pass drilling beneath gold values encountered in trenching over the Pahandanjal West and East Veins has intersected gold mineralisation at depth.
Due to persistent wet weather, only two holes were completed on the higher grade West Vein before moving to the East Vein, where drill access is more straightforward and less affected by heavy rains.
Pahandanjal West Vein drill holes intersected significant gold mineralisation at shallow depths consistent with trenching gold values. Gold mineralisation is associated with north ? south striking, steeply dipping banded epithermal quartz veins and sulphides and remains open along strike and down dip. Drilling will recommence on the West Vein as soon as weather conditions allow for safe site access.
Results from nine holes completed on the East Vein target have confirmed the presence of a broad, north west ? south east trending, shallow dipping, low gold grade breccia lode. The breccia zone is approximately 20m thick and contains grades of up to 2.81g/t Au and 30.3g/t Ag in drilling.
The Company considers gold mineralisation within the East Vein encouraging as it demonstrates width and scale of mineralised structures present within the hydrothermal system. A key exploration target at Pahandanjal is the projected intersection of the higher grading West Vein with the broad, lower gold grading East Vein. This target area is north of the current drilling and is postulated to sit under shallow, post mineralisation cover.
Trenching
Trenching over the North Pahandanjal and Okajara Prospects is continuing, with results for the first three North Pahendanjal trenches returning significant gold intersections.
The Company considers these trenching results very encouraging as they confirm the continuity of gold mineralisation to the north of the current drill targets, further reinforcing the Company?s exploration model that the Masu Project is a large, gold-mineralised hydrothermal system.
Soil and Rock Chip Sampling
Soil and rock chip sampling has continued throughout the Masu Project area, with soil gold anomalism now confirmed over 8 km of strike length. The northern-most soil sampling line at the Kanjilu prospect encountered strongly anomalous gold values to 17g/t Au, clearly indicating the Masu gold system remains open along strike to the north.
Scout rock chip sampling in the Kanjilu prospect area returned values of 5.29g/t Au and 5.8g/t Au, with an outlying rock chip sample collected 500m north of Kanjilu returning 72g/t Au, 31.7g/t Ag.
Additional soil sampling, mapping and trenching is planned at Kanjilu in due course.
Simonsen said Hillgrove will maintain the current focus of the exploration and drilling program, with an expanded scope and impetus. ?This is a substantial project opportunity for Hillgrove, and we are committed to fully exploiting this through a ramped-up drilling program with the second rig and further investment in exploration, including geophysics,? Simonsen said.
?The Hillgrove team has been undertaking a diligent and methodical approach to a carefully structured work program. As we continue to assess the big picture in light of ongoing results, we will also reassess the level of resources applied. The size of the mineralised system we have encountered looks very promising and we are responding accordingly.? (end of edited release)