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Bardoc Gold’s hits of up to 5 metres at 17.7 g/t gold confirm Aphrodite growth potential

Published: 14:09 06 May 2021 AEST

Bardoc Gold Ltd - Bardoc Gold’s hits of up to 5 metres at 17.7 g/t gold confirm Aphrodite growth potential
“The latest results point to the immense potential for further reserve and resource growth,” says CEO.

Bardoc Gold Ltd (ASX:BDC) has intersected broad zones of shallow high-grade gold mineralisation at the cornerstone 1.7-million-ounce Aphrodite Deposit within its flagship 3.07-million-ounce Bardoc Gold Project in the Kalgoorlie region of Western Australia.

The new intercepts, which are all outside the current resource model, highlight the potential for future upgrades and possible growth in resources and reserves once modelling and optimisations are completed.

Best results from Sigma Lode, which is immediately southeast of the planned open pit at the Aphrodite Deposit, include:

  • 5 metres at 17.7 g/t gold from 109 metres;
  • 15 metres at 1.49 g/t from 97 metres; and
  • 7.7 metres at 2.98 g/t from 133.3 metres.

The Aphrodite Deposit is a multi-lode system around 20 kilometres north of Excelsior/Zoroastrian deposits, where the processing facility for the Bardoc Gold Project will be located.

At present, the overall project hosts an ore reserve of 1 million ounces and BDC is confident of growing this.

Demonstrate “huge upside”

Bardoc Gold’s chief executive officer Robert Ryan said the new drilling results demonstrated the “huge upside” across the broader Aphrodite region, which the company was only just beginning to unlock as it continued its steady progress towards financing and development this year.

He said: “It’s hard to believe how under-explored an area like Aphrodite can be, being just 60 kilometres north of the centre of Kalgoorlie!

“The latest results point to the immense potential for further reserve and resource growth outside of our current mine plan, importantly with much of the upside coming from recently delineated shallow supergene mineralisation which is expected to contribute to our free-milling processing plan.

“The shallow Sigma Lode is currently not included in our ore reserve and the latest results will allow further mining studies to be conducted.

“Early mining studies have already revealed open pit potential at Sigma, with latest results showing that there is also significant underground potential at the deposit.”

Gamma Lode

The company has also intersected mineralisation at Gamma Lode just 450 metres east of the Aphrodite stage 2 open pit, which has a mining reserve of 2.9 million tonnes at 1.8 g/t gold for 168,000 ounces.

Drilling intersected promising geology with best results of:

  • 9 metres at 2.36 g/t from 70 metres; and
  • 16 metres at 1.04 g/t from 76 metres.

The drilling is still wide-spaced at a nominal 40 x 40 metres spacing and has the characteristics of the shallow mineralisation above the Phi and Alpha Lodes.

Future work for Gamma will include geological interpretation which will control a future resource model and also drive targeting of the likely location of the deeper underlying high-grade shear-hosted mineralisation.

Ryan added: “Meanwhile, new intersections on the Gamma lode have highlighted potential for a new mineralised zone outside of the current 1.7-million-ounce resource.

“Located 450 metres to the east of the main resource, Gamma has the potential, similar to Sigma Lode, to provide further mining options within the greater Aphrodite area.”

Diamond core drilling on Sigma Lode has provided vital structural data, which is improving the resource model and future exploration targeting.

Other drilling

The company is also undertaking diamond drilling to test depth extensions at Zoroastrian, outside the current resource.

It has completed aircore drilling across the Bardoc Tectonic Zone and is now awaiting assays.

Next steps

The company is engaged in financing discussions for the Bardoc Gold Project with a final investment decision on track for the September 2021 quarter.

Other work includes:

  • An EPC Tender review for the construction of the 2.1 million tonnes per annum gold processing plant is underway.
  • Evaluation of recently completed aircore drilling programs; and
  • Extensional diamond core drilling is underway at Zoroastrian targeting untested areas as well as depth extensions.

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