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ASX:RXL
ASX:RXL
Following the Youanmi Gold Project consolidation, Rox now has 90% – 100% of the gold interests in the regional exploration tenures. Tenure holding equates to 643km2 and more than 60km of strike of the Youanmi Shear Zone. The belt is demonstrated to be host to extensive high-grade gold occurrences (Youanmi mine, Ramelius’ high-grade Penny West deposit) and is clearly highly fertile in gold endowment. Regional review has been undertaken to priortise exploration targets.
All of Rox’s advanced projects currently sit within the Penny North Project Area located south of the 3.2Moz Au Youanmi deposit and north of the high-grade Penny West deposit.
The Currans Find Gold Project is located approximately 20km south of the Youanmi mine site.
The project area has three distinct zones of high-grade mineralisation that have been identified through historical mining, AC and RC drilling including: Currans North project, Red White & Blue project and Sovereign project.
Historically, Currans Find produced 6,874 tonnes at 13g/t from a battery located on-site at Red, White and Blue in the early 1900’s. The project was owned by Eastmet in the 1990’s with expenditure on the project just meeting minimum expenditure. In 2019 & 2020, VMC conducted drilling campaigns that intersected multiple high-grade lodes at Currans North, Red, White & Blue and Sovereign.
Gold mineralisation at Currans North is hosted in multiple ENE-trending quartz veins within mafic, ultramafic and intermediate rocks. These veins are dipping towards the SE and mineralisation is apparent to be plunging at 30° towards 206°.
Previous drilling on this project shows exceptionally high-grade gold mineralisation including (ASX: VMC announcement 11 September 2020):
| CFRC026 | 3m @ 32.58g/t Au from 115m |
|---|---|
| CFRC016 | 3m @ 27.50g/t Au from 39m |
| CFRC031 | 3m @ 25.00g/t Au from 109m |
| CFRC084 | 3m @ 19.58g/t Au from 21m |
Rox has interpreted a 1.5km ENE mineralised trend covering the previous exploration drilling. Along this interpreted trend are two prime targets identified that require drill testing
The structure hosting the Red White & Blue Prospect sits 200m to the south of the Currans North trend and is striking at a similar orientation. The mineralisation style and structural trend at Red White & Blue is similar to the Currans North trend however, due to the lack of drilling a high-grade plunge component is yet to be established.
Previous drilling on this project shows very high-grade gold mineralisation including (ASX: VMC announcement 13 June 2019):
| CFRC006 | 4m @ 4.81g/t Au from 36m |
|---|---|
| CFRC009a | 1m @ 10.79g/t Au from 25m |
| CFRC008 | 1m @ 4.96g/t Au from 46m |
Rox has interpreted a 2km ENE mineralised trend covering the previous exploration drilling with the large central area along this trend that requires drill testing. Gold mineralisation at both Currans North and Red White & Blue projects are also associated with elevated copper and lead which is a characteristic of gold mineralisation at the Penny West gold mine (5km to the SE). These elevated base metal results can be used to map out the gold bearing structures.
Currans North and Red White & Blue projects have a combined indicated and inferred resource of 22,000 ounces @ 3.81 g/t Au (ASX Announcement 23 June 2021). In addition to the identified exploration targets along the mineralised trends further drilling is planned to focus on increasing the size and grade of the resource through targeted down plunge and along strike RC drilling.
The Sovereign prospect is located 1km East of the Currans Find project.
Gold is associated with numerous steeply dipping quartz lodes striking towards the north, hosted within basalt and mafic schists. As with the Currans prospects, anomalous gold grades are associated with elevated levels of base metals. There is currently no resource over the project, however RC drilling has been planned to test the strike extent along with down dip extensions up and down plunge of the known mineralisation with the aim to potentially generate a mineral resource.
The Pincher Well Project is located approximately 16km south of the Youanmi Mine site and contains an extensive sequence of hydrothermally altered rocks being prospective for volcanogenic massive sulphide mineralisation, gold, and platinum group elements.
The project covers a dome incorporating a sequence of chloritized felsic volcanics and fragmentals, flanked by exhalative BIF and sulphidic chert horizons. Drilling has identified extensive, non-outcropping, dolerite and gabbro. Fine grained mafic intrusive dykes and apophyses commonly intrude the felsic rock.
Two main types of potentially economic mineralisation are present, being gold mineralisation and base metal Zn/Cu mineralisation. The two types of mineralisation have their own distinct geological characteristics. The zinc mineralisation is hydrothermal and was deposited concurrently with an exhalative BIF unit. The gold mineralisation appears unrelated to the zinc mineralisation and probably related to later faulting, though it must be noted that it is normally the case in hydrothermal/epithermal systems that base metal sulphides occur at depth while Au, Ag, As and Sb comprise a near surface suite.
At the Pincher Well project, companies including WMC and BHP undertook exploration involving mapping, drilling, and geophysics, but this exploration focused almost exclusively on base metals, largely neglecting the gold potential. Nonetheless, gold drill intersections are identified such as: PW0062, 2.71m @ 5.60g/t Au from 128.78m (ASX: VMC announcement 25 August 2017) and GVRC004, 1m @ 5.21 g/t Au from 47m (ASX: VMC announcement 5 September 2019).
At Pincher Well, Rox has planned a series of targeted RC drill holes that are designed to expand and develop the size of the deposit.
Rox currently has a number of prospects with known gold mineralisation at different stages of development. All of these prospects are located proximal to known gold fluid pathways on mineralised structures all feed from the regional Youanmi Shear Zone. The targets present the Company with the opportunity to discover high-grade deposits focused on Linda Gossan and Target Area 1.
The Linda Gossan Prospect is located approximately 14km south of the Youanmi Mine site within tenement E57/1019. The prospect is underlain by a sequence of felsic lavas and tuffs, and chert and BIFs, all intruded by mafic to intermediate sills.
Linda Gossan was discovered in 1971 and since then companies including WMC and BHP have undertaken exploration involving limited drilling. Over this period of historic exploration, the exploration focused was almost exclusively on base metals, and largely neglecting the gold potential.
More recently, RC drilling by VMC during 2022 intersected a hugely significant gold mineralisation result of 9m @ 15.6 g/t Au from the surface in drill hole VMC054 (ASX: VMC announcement 10 October 2022).
Given the recent significant, wide and high-grade drill intercept from VMC054, within an area with very limited true gold exploration, this prospect represents a one of Rox’s highest priority targets.
An exploration program has been planned to geologically map the area to improve the structurally understanding of the prospect area prior to targeted drill testing.
During 2021 Rox completed a 426 hole, 22,455 metre Aircore drilling program that straddled the regional Youanmi Shear Zone and located to the south of the Youanmi deposit.
The Youanmi Shear Zone is a major crustal-scale structure and is likely the first-order fluid pathway for gold mineralisation at the Youanmi Mine and Penny West (Ramelius Resources). The drilling program covered an 18km strike length between these two mining operations and was designed to test for regolith gold anomalies within NW trending structures proximal to the Youanmi Shear Zone.
Following the drilling program, the most prospective area named Target Area 1 displayed several anomalous gold results along these NW trending structures, seen through the regional geophysics.
Significant intersections include (ASX Announcement 3 February 2022):
Rox has designed a follow up drilling program to test the continuation and orientation of mineralisation at depth and along strike for the early stage aircore program.
Anomalous gold identified through historic drilling along the northern extent of the Youanmi Shear Zone.
AC drilling is planned to test the coincident magnetic anomaly along the granite-greenstone boundary.
Historic RAB drilling, soil and rock chip sampling show anomalous gold on the eastern side of the Youanmi Shear Zone.
AC drilling is planned to test along the contact of the granite-greenstone boundary proximal to the Youanmi Shear Zone.
2023 soil sampling along the Youanmi Shear Zone in the Penny South Project Area returned a >10 times background gold anomaly over a geophysical magnetic high anomaly.
AC drilling is planned to test this coincident soil anomaly and magnetic high anomaly.