ABM Resources trenching turns up peak 215g/t gold grade at Old Pirate

ABM Resources (ASX: ABU) has made further high grade gold discoveries at the Old Pirate prospect, part of the company’s Twin Bonanza Gold Camp Project in the Northern Territory.

Results from the Phase 3 bulk trenching program at Old Pirate average 29.77 grams per tonne (g/t) gold over a combined vein strike length of 155 metres, in an area 100 metres south of previously reported veins.

The peak assay returned from the Phase 3 program was an impressive 215g/t gold.

Individual veins exposed in Phase 3 range from 0.3 metres to 6 metres in width, including 24 metres strike averaging 83.9g/t gold along with a newly exposed zone of quartz reef over a 36 square metre area with an average grade of 71.8g/t gold.

These results build on the phase 1 and 2 trenching programs which had similar results, with the three phases combined equalling a combined total strike length of 582 metres and a weighted average of 23.98g/t gold.

ABM managing director Darren Holden told Proactive Investors today that the latest results were significant because they represented an entirely different vein set to those previously reported.

“Phase 1 and 2 were essentially a set of veins from the main Old Pirate area, but they were different iterations of the same veins, but this is an entirely vein set, located about 100 metres south of those other veins.”

Importantly, Holden said he believes there will be much more to come from Old Pirate.

“Old Pirate is said to be one of the last high grade vein systems exposed in Australia that hasn’t been exploited by the Gold Rush. There’s four veins running 70 or 80 grams at surface over decent strike length that you can just dig out of the ground, you don’t get that in Western Australia or New South Wales or Victoria any more, they were all mined in the 1880’s, 1890’s.

“We think that what we’ve done in phase 1, 2 and 3 is probably 30% of the overall system.”

High grade samples

Of the 137 samples collected in Phase 3, 51 graded greater than 10g/t gold, averaging 68.61g/t gold. A further 14 samples graded more than 100g/t gold, with an average grade of 146.07g/t gold.

Pending results

A further 255 longitudinal strike length trench samples and 481 costean (across the vein) samples remain to be assayed and compiled along with duplicate samples.

Old Pirate

The Old Pirate Prospect is located 1800 metres from ABM’s 1.67 million ounce Buccaneer resource, which is hosted within the Twin Bonanza Gold Camp. Gold intersections at the prospect are distributed throughout a series of quartz veins within interlayered sandstone and shale sedimentary rocks.

The project spans the highly prospective “Trans Tanami Structure” an inferred regional / tectonic geological feature which hosts numerous gold deposits including Newmont Mining’s (NYSE: NEM) multi-million ounce Callie Gold Mine.

Processing options

In the long term, Holden said ABM is considering two options for processing gold from Old Pirate.

“We can go two ways, we’ve got the Buccaneer bulk tonnage low grade system really close by, so is Old Pirate a part of the overall economics of a much bigger integrated mine, or do we look at milling it through one of the other mills in the region?”

Analysis

With a resource update planned for delivery in the March quarter of 2012, ongoing exploration successes show the potential for ABM to push past the milestone 2 million ounces gold mark.

Originally published at: http://www.proactiveinvestors.com.au/companies/news/23825/abm-resources-trenching-turns-up-peak-215gt-gold-grade-at-old-pirate-23825.html