With multiple mineralised zones and some high grade gold hits, the Silver Lake Resources (ASX: SLR) Tuckabianna West deposit at the Murchison project potentially could be an underground mine.
Drilling has identified mineralised zones over a 300 metre vertical depth beneath the previously open pit mine, with mineralisation open to the north, south and at depth, with the strike extent around 350 metres in length.
High grade results include; 3.0 metres at 18.3 g/t gold from 143 metres, 3.2 metres at 7.9 g/t gold from 290 metres and 9.0 metres at 5.7 g/t gold from 370 metres.
An upgraded resource is anticipated in January.
The area remains highly prospective, with the Tuckabianna deposits based around the 13 kilometre long main and parallel zones, which have ongoing drilling being conducted.
The company said these deposits already have a resource of; 8.9 million tonnes at 2.4 g/t gold for 680,000 gold ounces, and have previously produced 375,000 gold ounces from open pit mines.
The Tuckabianna West open pit mine was mined to 110 metres, the highest yielding open pit gold mine in the field, and produced 157,000 gold ounces, with a current resource of 150,000 gold ounces.
Les Davis, managing director, said “These latest results support our view that large resources exist beyond the previous shallow drilling in the Murchison."
The current drilling is just the first phase of deeper drilling at Tuckabianna West, providing the company with strong evidence for an underground gold mine.
Ongoing exploration will focus on extending the current resources, particularly below 100 metres depth, with the company strategy to delineate sufficient resources to sustain a 100,000 gold ounce annual operation.