3D Resources Limited (ASX:DDD) is encouraged by results from preliminary fire assays after completing its maiden drilling program at the Adelong Gold Project in southern NSW.
The reverse circulation (RC) drilling program confirms wide zones of mineralisation at Currajong West and narrow vein mineralisation at Donkey Hill sites.
This was the first drilling undertaken at the Adelong Gold Project in more than seven years with a total of 10 RC holes for 989 metres.
Seven holes were drilled into the Currajong East/Currajong West prospects and three at Donkey Hill South.
Preliminary results received were based on fire assays with complete results expected shortly and these will provide more accurate gold determinations.
Program “considered useful”
3D Resources managing director Peter Mitchell said: “The initial drilling program focused on the Donkey Hill and Currajong deposits and was not planned to test the company’s priority targets.
“The program was considered useful to increase the company’s knowledge of the project's geology and to test certain potential mineralisation boundaries and possible open-cut modelling, with a reinterpretation of historical results and future mine planning continuing alongside this activity.
“Prior experience at Adelong had shown the best analytical results were obtained from intense cyanide leaching of a +1-kilogram sample over a 48-hour period.
“This technique would have limited assays to around 100 each week, and with many exploration companies experiencing major delays in the processing of assays from laboratories due to COVID-19, the company undertook preliminary fire assays on 25-gram samples, in order to speed up the process of generating results.
“Samples showing the presence of mineralisation are being re-assayed with full and complete results pending.”
Drilling summary
At Currajong, the company resurfaced and rebuilt over 1-kilometre of existing tracks to provide vehicle access to the area and the targets selected for drilling.
The preliminary results showed wide zones of mineralisation suggesting more disseminated mineralisation at shallow depths rather than the four discrete veins previously modelled for Currajong West.
These preliminary assays will be further assessed once the more accurate assay results for these zones are received.
At Donkey Hill, the access was possible to the southern part of the deposit with three holes drilled, which were placed progressively south from the historic mine site.
Preliminary results from the first hole intersected old mine workings but this was unable to reach the target depth.
The final hole intersected some quartz veining and carbonate veins that carry anomalous gold values that indicate the structures continue south, however, detected grades at this locale were low.
Future plans
The August 2020 maiden drilling program forms part of the company’s longer-term strategy of increasing and upgrading resources for the Adelong Gold Project, with the initial program at Currajong and Donkey Hill examining a few sites of potential interest.
When the full and completed assay results are received, they will be integrated with the recent resource assessments to allow a more targeted approach to drilling site selection for the 2021 program.
3D Resources plans to undertake significantly more drilling at Adelong in 2021 once approvals have been granted.
