- E79 Resources (ESNR) has received all requisite consents to begin drilling at its Beaufort Property
- The company plans to begin diamond drilling this month to test high-priority soil geochemical targets
- The company plans an initial 1000m program to test priority soil geochemical anomalies and associated structural targets
- E79 Resources Corp. is a resource exploration company
- E79 Resources Corp. (ESNR) opened trading at C$0.28 per share
E79 Resources (ESNR) has received all requisite consents to begin drilling at its Beaufort Property.
The company plans to begin diamond drilling this month to test high-priority soil geochemical targets. The drilling program forms part of a pipeline of exploration activities on its Beaufort Property consisting of reconnaissance soil sampling, in-fill sampling to define targets, local structural mapping, and drilling of orientated diamond core to provide information on rock type, structure, and gold mineralization below the zone of weathering.
Beaufort has never seen systematic drilling beneath the weathered zone.
Rory Quinn , E79’s President and Chief Executive Officer stated,
“We have been systematically progressing exploration at Beaufort by undertaking the first extensive residual soil sampling program on the exploration license, incorporating re-interpretations of regional aeromagnetic and ground gravity data, testing various structures and quartz vein types with rock chip sampling, and now drilling to test the source of soil geochemical anomalies. Elevated gold (Au) values, to a high of 90 ppb, are positively correlated with elevated arsenic (As), antimony (Sb) and lead (Pb), a characteristic geochemical signature for bedrock gold mineralization in central Victoria.
Reconnaissance and in-fill soil sampling continues along the nearly 20km trend of highly prospective ground that provided the source for much of the 1.2 million ounces of alluvial gold estimated to have been produced from the Beaufort goldfield. Our investigations indicate that gold was derived from local bedrock but, aside from a few small historical producers, the bedrock source of the alluvial gold has never been discovered . We are excited by the wealth of geological information this drilling program will provide on a poorly understood and enigmatic goldfield.”
Highlights
- Maiden diamond drilling program to target residual (bedrock) soil geochemical anomalies confirmed by in-fill soil sampling
- The company plans an initial 1000m program to test priority soil geochemical anomalies and associated structural targets. Initial drilling estimated to be completed by the end of June 2021
- The initial four exploration targets are to be drilled on two separate geochemically anomalous NNW trends interpreted to be stratigraphically controlled, including three targets orientated obliquely to these trends (i.e. structurally controlled)
- The use of existing access tracks will limit environmental impacts or disturbance
- Continued drill target definition on ~2km long Au-As-Sb-Pb NNW anomaly along structure (Figure 2)
Beaufort Targets
NNW-trending zones geochemically anomalous in gold, antimony, arsenic and lead were defined by reconnaissance soil sampling of the Central Grid. These trends are often associated with pyritic black slates and are interpreted to be stratigraphically controlled. In-fill sampling defined clear geochemical targets along two of these NNW trends, two of which are orientated NNE (E79 Resources press release April 13, 2021 ). These trends are slightly oblique to the stratigraphy and are interpreted to be structurally controlled. A third target has been identified at the intersection of the NNW-trending soil anomaly with a northeast-trending geophysical lineament. A fourth drill hole is planned to test the more westerly of the NNW-trending soil geochemistry anomalies and will pass beneath shallow historical workings that tested an NNW-trending quartz vein system (Figure 2).
All drill holes have been designed to reach their targets at a vertical depth greater than 100m, which is estimated to be the depth of weathering based on previous drilling nearby. The holes will vary in length from 250 to 300m and will cut sub-vertical interbedded siltstones and slates of the Beaufort Formation at an approximate angle of 40 degrees. The drill holes will be logged in detail for lithology, structure, alteration, veining and mineralization, and sampled for assay and geochemistry.
Next Steps
- Continued drill testing of the ~2km long gold-arsenic-antimony anomaly, along structure, on the western side of the Central Grid
- In-fill soil sampling of the Magazine and North Grids is completed with laboratory results pending; in-fill sampling of the South Grid is on-going
- Continuing drill target generation at 4 soil grids straddling a nearly 20km structural trend
- Further reconnaissance soil sampling is planned to extend coverage between the existing soil grids along trend and to test additional structures across the exploration license
E79 Resources Corp. is a resource exploration company focused on exploring for Fosterville -type mineralization at its Beaufort and Myrtleford properties in the Victorian Goldfields, Australia.
E79 Resources Corp. (ESNR) opened trading at C$0.28 per share.
