Horizon Minerals Limited: Excellent High Grade Results Continue From Peyes Farm
Perth, Australia - Horizon Minerals Ltd. (ASX:HRZ) is pleased to announce further excellent high grade drilling results from the 100% owned Peyes Farm gold project, part of the Teal project area located 10km north west of Kalgoorlie-Boulder in the heart of the Western Australian goldfields (Figures 1 and 2*).The Teal camp comprises the Teal, Jacques Find and Peyes Farm deposits and is one of five core satellite gold project areas being advanced to complement the baseload Boorara gold project as part of the consolidated Feasibility Study to deliver an initial five-year mine plan and underpin the establishment of a stand-alone processing facility at the Boorara mine site.
The program at Peyes Farm is the first since the highly successful drilling campaigns completed by the Company in 2017 delivering a Mineral Resource Estimate of 0.53Mt grading 1.70g/t Au for 28,860oz at a 1g/t Au lower cut-off grade.
In the December Quarter 2020, the Company completed 49 Reverse Circulation ("RC") and three diamond holes for 3,808m to a maximum depth of 132m. The aim of the drilling was to:
- Infill a number of areas within the current mineralised envelope to improve JORC classification to the Measured and Indicated categories for Ore Reserve generation
- Extend areas of supergene mineralisation beyond the current resource model
- Provide diamond core for additional geotechnical assessment and confirmatory metallurgical test work for mine optimisation, design and economic analysis.
Project Geology
As with the Jacques Find gold project immediately to the west, the Peyes Farm gold deposit comprises a well-defined supergene blanket located above shears and quartz within structurally controlled felsic schists, tuffs, sediments and porphyry rocks. Mineralisation is strongly influenced by the regional NNW geological trend of the Abattoir Shear.
Gold mineralisation is developed in a flat lying oxide supergene deposit located between 24-75 metres vertical depth and in primary mineralisation within a sub-vertical shear zone. The mineralisation lies on the same trend as Teal and collectively the strike length is greater than 1500 metres.
Summary of Results
Previous drilling by the Company during the 2016/2017 campaigns focussed on building the resource inventory with mostly step back and extension drilling. Combined with an improved gold price and encouraged by the success of the nearby Teal gold mine (open pit produced 229,000t @ 3.2g/t Au for 21,836 oz), the Company designed a program to maximise the open pittable tonnes and grade from the Peyes Farm oxide and transitional ore zones.
Preliminary test work suggests that the Peyes Farm metallurgy is similar to the Teal deposit mined and processed successfully in 2018. Teal was mined to 65m vertical depth with excellent recoveries in both the oxide (94%) and transition (90%) ore zones. In the deeper primary sulphide mineralisation, typically below 80-90m depth, the metallurgy of the ore is semi-refractory and requires pre-oxidation through roasting or ultra-fine grinding to achieve acceptable recoveries.
Variations in the depth of weathering and the fresh rock boundary at Peyes Farm were mapped in greater detail with the new drilling enabling an assessment of the supergene ore for conventional milling and treatment options to be reviewed on the primary sulphide mineralisation.
The 2020 drilling also improved drill density to a more uniform 10m spacing allowing improved definition of the ore zones. New high-grade shoots were also discovered in this program. Table 1* highlights the significant intercepts that recorded grades >1.0g/t Au. Similar to Teal, the highest grades were typically observed in the supergene zone at 25-80m vertical depth. Mineralisation remains open to the north and south within the supergene enrichment zone.
Alongside the RC drilling, three diamond drill holes were completed. These holes were for combined geotechnical and metallurgical purposes and is ongoing as part of mine optimisation, design and maiden Ore Reserve generation.
Next Steps
The latest assay results will enable compilation of an updated Mineral Resource Estimate due for completion in the June Quarter 2021. Open cut mine optimisation and design studies will then be completed for maiden Ore Reserve generation as part of the consolidated Feasibility Study
Further extensional drilling is planned at Peyes Farm later in 2021 as part of the organic growth plan.
*To view tables and figures, please visit:
https://abnnewswire.net/lnk/KZZ1VI1N
About Horizon Minerals Limited:
Horizon Minerals Ltd. (ASX:HRZ) is a gold exploration and mining company focussed on the Kalgoorlie and Menzies areas of Western Australia which are host to some of Australia's richest gold deposits. The Company is developing a mining pipeline of projects to generate cash and self-fund aggressive exploration, mine developments and further acquisitions. The Teal gold mine has been recently completed.
Horizon is aiming to significantly grow its JORC-Compliant Mineral Resources, complete definitive feasibility studies on core high grade open cut and underground projects and build a sustainable development pipeline.
Horizon has a number of joint ventures in place across multiple commodities and regions of Australia providing exposure to Vanadium, Copper, PGE's, Gold and Nickel/Cobalt. Our quality joint venture partners are earning in to our project areas by spending over $20 million over 5 years enabling focus on the gold business while maintaining upside leverage.
Source:
Horizon Minerals Ltd.
Contact:
Jon Price Managing Director T: +61 8 9386 9534 E: jon.price@horizonminerals.com.au Michael Vaughan Media Relations - Fivemark Partners T: +61 422 602 720 E: michael.vaughan@fivemark.com.au