Bellevue Gold Ltd’s (ASX:BGL) infill drilling at Bellevue Gold Project in WA has returned up to 1-metre at 1,169 g/t gold from 100 metres with the likelihood of boosting a mid-year resource upgrade at the project.
While the 1-metre result was returned from Bellevue North, one of the peripheral lodes, there were also a host of ‘exceptional’ results from the Deacon lode, which accounts for 41,000 ounces at 12.3 g/t gold of the 2.2-million-ounce inferred resource.
Notable intersections highlighting the continuity of the central area at Deacon include:
- 5.3 metres at 54.5 g/t from 650.9 metres;
- 1.5 metres at 168.8 g/t from 651.7 metres, including 0.5 metres at 499.1 g/t;
- 2.5 metres at 49.2 g/t from 527.8 metres;
- 10.3 metres at 10.7 g/t from 566.9 metres;
- 1.64 metres at 48 g/t from 640.0 metres; and
- 3.3 metres at 22.5 g/t from 618.1 metres.
Other strong results from infill drilling on the Bellevue Peripheral Lodes (Tribune, Viago and Bellevue) were also obtained, including:
- 2 metres at 64.4 g/t from 609.1 metres;
- 2.9 metres at 36.5 g/t from 168.6 metres;
- 2.4 metres at 14.4 g/t from 124.8 metres;
- 5.6 metres at 7.5 g/t from 90.4 metres; and
- 1.5 metres at 89.8 g/t from 424.1 metres.
Deacon lode “a repeat” of Bellevue
Managing director Steve Parsons said: “The extremely high grades and the continuity of the mineralisation augur very well for both the upcoming resource upgrade and the project’s economics.
“The Deacon lode is emerging as a repeat of the adjacent Bellevue deposit, which was well-known for its extensive high-grade mineralisation.
“The mineralisation at Deacon is also characterised by consistent free visible gold and high pyrrhotite percentages.”
Operational activity continues
Parsons added that operational activity on the site was continuing, with the dewatering of the existing underground mine proceeding to plan and initial inspections used to determine the refurbishment required to regain access for drilling and eventual development highly encouraging.
“Drilling from underground will enable us to drill at twice the pace and significantly less cost than drilling from surface.
“Underground access will also allow us to explore the deposit from different drill positions.
“There is more than $200 million worth of underground development within the 28 kilometres of underground workings and this infrastructure is expected to play a key role in minimising capital costs and lay the pathway for a low level of capital intensity to bring the deposit back into production.”
Project development activities
The water level at the Bellevue underground mine is below the 1275 Level, about 200 metres below surface with a preliminary underground inspection now completed to assess requirements for re-establishment of access to the existing Bellevue decline.
Inspections up to the water level indicate the underground infrastructure to be in good condition and suitable for refurbishment and re-entry.
The use of a hand-heldlidar (cavity monitoring) system is being utilised to resurvey the decline and some existing stopes.
Geotechnical and metallurgical test work programs are also well advanced to support both the access of the decline and the ongoing mining studies.
Tender evaluations are occurring in preparation for a planned underground re-entry in Q3 2020 to allow access to underground diamond drill cuddies for resource drilling programs.
Next steps
Parsons said the company was set to achieve several key milestones in the coming months such as the maiden indicated resource, re-establishment of access to the underground mine infrastructure and the delivery of economic studies.
Shares have been 1-cent higher to 75.5 cents intra-day and are up from 28.5 cents at close on March 19.