Gold miner and multi-commodity explorer, Alkane Resources (ASX: ALK), has defined a near-mine Exploration Target in the significant gold corridor identified by the company, which lies within 8 kilometres of the Tomingley Gold Operations (TGO) one million tonne per annum processing facility and underground mine.
The Exploration Target is between 15.8 and 23.8 million tonnes at a grade ranging between 1.7 to 2.2 grams per tonne gold and is across three primary prospects, Roswell, San Antonio and El Paso, which have a cumulative strike length of 2,500 metres. The Exploration Target has been prepared on extensive drill data collected since mid-2017, including a recent exploration drill program of 76 holes for ~16,000 metres of reverse circulation drilling and 3 diamond drill holes totalling ~1,100 metres.
An Exploration Target of this size demonstrates potential for material mine life extension at TGO and also flags a possible return to open pit mining.
Alkane intends to further test the Exploration Target with drilling, which has already commenced, and this is expected to extend over approximately 12 months. Alkane is intending to gain enough information in the next 6 months to define an initial Resource and determine whether open cut or underground mining is the preferable option to exploit this resource, if proven.
Today’s ASX announcement can be found here.