Robust: Drilling results at Perak Basin indicate deeper potential
Tuesday, May 6 2014 - 02:47 AM WIB
ASX-listed Robust Resources Limited announced Tuesday the completion of 13 holes from recent drilling of the Perak Basin on Romang Island project, Maluku province.
The company said in a statement that results show excellent intersections of both exhalative and feeder zone mineralization. ?Every hole completed so far within the Perak Basin and nearby Batu Perak prospects (dimensions of 700 x700 meters) has intersected mineralisation including these most recent holes,? it said, while adding the more detailed information about the results as follows.
The highlights of the drilling results are hole numbers LWD 411, 415 and 419.
LWD 419 intersected strong polymetallic mineralisation over a total drilled width of 166.8 metrers.
o 166.8m at 1.50 g/t AuEq and 1.94% combined base metals from 57.2m
(0.76 g/t Au, 39 g/t Ag, 0.08% Cu, 1.09% Pb, 0.77% Zn)
This intersection is the 3rd best (grade x drilled length) ever obtained from drilling on Romang Island and the best so far in the Perak Basis. It contains two high-grade zones; the upper high-grade zone is a continuation of the ubiquitous flat-lying VMS-style Barite Exhalative (BEX) deposit and contains very high silver assays:
o 6.3m at 7.45 g/t AuEq and 3.07% combined base metals from 66.7m
(1.05 g/t Au, 339 g/t Ag, 0.21% Cu, 1.72% Pb, 1.14% Zn)
Of particular significance in LWD 419 is the discovery of a new, deeper, zone of polymetallic mineralisation carrying strong gold, silver and base metals within the feeder system (Western BFS).
o 11.5m at 5.87 g/t AuEq and 10.45% combined base metals from 168.6m
(3.80 g/t Au, 110 g/t Ag, 0.54% Cu, 5.01% Pb, 4.90% Zn) within a broader well mineralised zone:
o 27m at 3.51 g/t AuEq and 5.47% combined base metals from 165.0m
(2.34 g/t Au, 62 g/t Ag, 0.33% Cu, 3.27% Pb, 2.87% Zn)
A discovery of gold-rich BEX was made in LWD 411 on the eastern side of the Perak Basin, opposite to LWD 419. LWD 411 intersected a thick zone of mineralisation and the upper part of the mineralised intersection consists of pale barite-silica which contains high levels of gold with lower base metal values. The pale barite mineralisation is interpreted to have formed on the sea floor from sea-floor ?white smoker? vents.
o 7.4m at 4.75 g/t AuEq and 1.46% combined base metals from 29.7m
(3.35 g/t Au, 53 g/t Ag, 0.05% Cu, 1.39% Pb, 0.03% Zn)
Directly below the white smoker zone is a breccia containing elevated levels of base metals:
o 36.0m @ 1.30 g/t AuEq and 3.50% combined base metals from 40.0m
(0.82 g/t Au, 25 g/t Ag, 0.19% Cu, 1.79% Pb, 1.52% Zn)
This breccia zone is significant as it is interpreted to be the edge of a third barite-rich breccia feeder system (BFS), along the eastern edge of the basin, which has been interpreted from geophysical data. Current drilling is designed to further test this zone (Eastern BFS).
Eighty meters south-east of LWD 411 is LWD 415 which intersected a 110 metre-thick zone of dominantly polymetallic breccia mineralisation. Capping this broad zone is very high grade BEX:
o 2.8m at 17.64 g/t AuEq and 15.09% combined base metals from 54.1m
(4.00 g/t Au, 723 g/t Ag, 0.67% Cu, 9.53% Pb, 4.88% Zn)
In total, Robust has drilled 62 diamond-core holes into Batu Perak/Perak Basin and has intersected mineralization in every hole. The Perak Basin mineralizing system remains open in all directions and now, with the discovery of high-grade gold and base metals in hole LWD 419, the deeper potential of the basin is demonstrated.
The company said it continues to prioritize the polymetallic resource with a full program of drilling utilizing 4 diamond drill rigs planned for the remainder of calendar year 2014.
An additional three of the company?s drill rigs have been allocated to drilling of the high-grade manganese resources at Manganese Valley and Batu Hitam West. This drilling is designed to improve the accuracy and JORC classification of the mineral resource estimate and provide large-diameter core samples for metallurgical characterisation tests which will support the current Feasibility Study.
Editing by Reiner Simanjuntak