Golden Horse Minerals Limited (ASX: GHM), a gold exploration company in Western Australia’s Southern Cross region, has announced promising results from its first diamond drill hole at the Hopes Hill project. The company has consolidated in excess of 1,900km2 of tenure within the Southern Cross Greenstone Belt, a prolific gold-producing region. The initial assay sections for diamond drill hole GHHHRCD0054 revealed a high-grade intercept approximately 300 metres vertically below the surface, significantly deeper than previous drilling.
The standout intercept from GHHHRCD0054 was 4.4 metres at 9.3 grams per tonne (g/t) of gold from 339 metres, including a richer section of 1.9 metres at 20.7 g/t gold from 340 metres. This is the deepest hole ever drilled in the Hopes Hill district, opening up multiple target areas and confirming the potential for deeper underground mining. Ongoing reverse circulation (RC) drilling also delivered strong results in the northern zone, with hole GHHHRC0059 intersecting 30.0 metres at 2.2 g/t gold from 157 metres, including 10.0 metres at 4.7 g/t gold from 177 metres.
Managing Director Nicholas Anderson expressed excitement about the results, highlighting the intersection of high-grade mineralisation 300 metres below the surface and over 450 metres down-plunge of the Central Zone. He also noted that the ongoing RC program continues to extend shallow, high-grade mineralisation across the growing 1.7-kilometre Hopes Hill trend. The company has completed the first stage of a downhole electromagnetic (DHEM) survey program to identify new high-grade targets, with results expected in the coming weeks.
The company is contemplating a second RC drill to fast-track shallow RC holes to the North, South, and within the Hopes Hill pit boundaries and as pre-collars for diamond drilling. Anderson concluded, “Given the strong association between pyrrhotite sulphide and high-grade gold mineralisation, we are excited to have commenced geophysical targeting to identify new and extensional high-grade targets…as we look forward to updating the market over the coming weeks.”
