Nelson Resources Limited (ASX: NES), a minerals exploration company focused on developing high-grade gold and silver projects, announced that rehabilitation work has been completed at the upper levels of its high-grade Gold-Silver Orleans Mine, located within the Gold Point Project in Walker Lane, Nevada, USA. This significant milestone prepares the site for the company’s maiden underground drilling programme, with drill platforms now established for immediate use.
The rehabilitation, undertaken by Nevada Rand LLC, successfully restored access to underground positions crucial for the upcoming drilling. A recent chip sample collected during these works returned an impressive 77.9 grams per tonne gold and 46.1 grams per tonne silver over a 1-metre interval of fault breccia from the 300-foot level, approximately 150 metres below surface. This result reinforces the potential for high-grade mineralisation to persist at depth near existing workings. Drilling equipment is expected to be mobilised shortly for an initial programme of at least four short holes, followed by up to 15 diamond holes to extend the Orleans vein.
The restored underground access via the Dunfee decline offers a materially lower-cost drill platform, estimated to be approximately half the cost of a comparable surface programme. This method also allows for shorter holes, improved drill angles, and greater targeting precision with reduced surface disturbance. Nelson Non-Executive Chairman Gernot Abl commented that completing rehabilitation and establishing underground drill platforms is a major milestone, reinforcing high-grade potential and the value of direct underground access for systematic exploration. Furthermore, rehabilitation planning is underway at the Great Western Mine, another key historic high-grade mine within the broader Gold Point underground network, which boasts over 5 kilometres of historical workings.
