Surface drilling at the Fosterville mine, in Australia, have confirmed mineralisation down-plunge of the existing mineral resource at Robbin’s Hill, while surface infill drilling into current resources continues to return high-grade results.

Two intercepts contained visible gold, which gold miner Kirkland Lake reported on Tuesday provided confirmation of the geological model.

The company reported drill results from 66 holes (36 428 m) that targeted extension and infill of the Robbin’s Hill mineral resource.

“For a long time, we’ve been saying that there could be more Fostervilles at Fosterville and, with today’s results, Robbin’s Hill has clearly emerged as a second potential mining front to provide feed to our Fosterville mill,” said president and CEO Tony Makuch.

Based on current drilling, Kirkland had identified a large mineralised system at Robbin’s Hill that it said should support substantially higher levels of mineral resources.

Most of the drilling has targeted areas 650 m from surface and higher.

“The level of visible gold in quartz that we’ve intersected in this area compares favourably to levels seen at the existing Fosterville mine at similar elevations. The presence of visible gold in quartz and 500 m down-plunge extension of Robbin’s Hill mineralisation, highlights the potential for future discoveries of high-grade, visible gold-bearing zones at depth similar to Swan and Eagle at Fosterville’s Lower Phoenix system,” said Makuch.

Work was continuing at Robbin’s Hill with five surface drill rigs on site and plans were being finalised for future underground development and drilling.

In addition to drilling and other exploration techniques, the company is currently performing a three-dimensional (3D) seismic survey covering an approximate 6 km² in the north part of the Fosterville mining licence. The geophysical survey is the first of its kind to be undertaken in Victoria for gold exploration and will provide a high-resolution 3D dataset to a depth of over 1 km. The company is optimistic that results of this detailed survey will assist in the definition of structural features and mineralised corridors, which will aid the future exploration and development of the Robbin’s Hill area. 

ONTARIO DRILLING

Meanwhile, Kirkland also reported new drill results from underground exploration drilling at the Macassa mine in Ontario. The new results include 45 drill holes (15 238 m) of drilling from the east and west exploration drifts on the 5 300-ft level, as well as from the 5 600-ft level ramp development.

Three underground drill rigs are focused on the Amalgamated Break, as well as the SMC West and East. Drilling will continue through the remainder of 2019.

A total of 27 drill holes for 6 664 m were drilled south from the 5 300 level west exploration drift and an additional three drill holes for 1 128 m of drilling were completed from the 5 600 ramp targeting mineralisation associated with the Amalgamated Break.

The drilling had highlighted the exploration potential along the Amalgamated Break and further increased Kirkland’s confidence that it could significantly grow the SMC.

“The new intersections along the Amalgamated Break both confirm and expand the known areas of high-grade mineralisation in this very high-potential area. We have already identified two key areas of high-grade mineralisation associated with the Amalgamated Break and will continue to drill to extend these areas and explore for new high-grade zones,” said Makuch.

At the SMC, Kirkland previously announced that it had intersected high-grade mineralisation close to 300 m to the west and 200 m to the east of current mineral resources. It has since extended the known mineralisation to the east another 75 m.

“Going forward, we will continue to drill along the Amalgamated Break, which has both significant near- and longer-term exploration potential, and will also work to further extend high-grade mineralisation around the SMC as part of our work to replace and grow mineral reserves and mineral resources at Macassa.”