Gold hunt back on at St Arnaud

Navarre Minerals has started the second phase of drilling exploration at its St Arnaud Gold Project site.

The company is undertaking a ‘shallow’ 12hole program as it tests for a potential high-grade gold and silver zone.

The target area occurs near the intersection of an east-west-trending quartz reef structure and a northwest trending quartz reef in the St Arnaud East prospect.

Navarre Minerals geological mapping and ‘first-pass AC drilling’ has highlighted the potential for ‘mineralised targets’.

Company representatives believe the St Arnaud target area has similar structural frameworks to those being mined at the nine-million-ounce Fosterville Gold Mine, 130 kilometres to the east.

They are working off a study of Fosterville’s ‘Swan’ zone that revealed ‘bonanza-grade’ gold mineralisation generally occurred at the intersection

of the northwest-trending ‘Swan’ structure with an east-west trending ‘Eagle’ structure.

Exploration has identified similar geometric circumstances at a South Reef target in the St Arnaud East prospect that has never been the subject of drill testing. This is the main focus of the latest program before deeper targeted drilling plans.

Navarre Minerals’ managing director Geoff Mcdermott said the company was excited to be back drilling at St Arnaud.

“Evidence of historical shallow mining along parts of the target reef area is a good sign for potential high-grade zones of mineralisation,” he said.

“We look forward to the results from this phase of drilling and also to the resumption of drilling at our Stawell Corridor Gold Project as follow-up to our recently completed geophysical surveys.”