Augustus Minerals has launched a follow-up drilling campaign at its Clifton East prospect within the Music Well Gold Project, aiming to refine the strike and dip of promising gold mineralisation discovered earlier this year.
- Follow-up RC drilling underway at Clifton East prospect
- Maiden drilling returned up to 16m at 1.46g/t gold
- Ten new holes planned to close spacing and define mineralisation
- Soil sampling scheduled at Black Cat East and Teutonic East
- Assay results from follow-up expected in late June or early July
Follow-Up Drilling Targets Strike Extension at Clifton East
Augustus Minerals (ASX:AUG) has kicked off a follow-up reverse circulation (RC) drilling program at the Clifton East prospect, part of its sprawling Music Well Gold Project in Western Australia’s Leonora/Laverton Greenstone Belt. The ten planned angled holes, each around 150 metres deep, aim to tighten the drill spacing along a 350-metre strike where initial March drilling returned encouraging gold intercepts.
The maiden program, which drilled 1,100 metres over 11 holes, yielded notable intersections including 16 metres at 1.46 grams per tonne (g/t) gold from 28 metres downhole in hole MWRC0006, and a 32-metre zone averaging 0.90 g/t gold from 40 metres in MWRC0010, featuring a higher-grade 4-metre segment at 2.72 g/t. These results underpin the prospect’s potential but left uncertainties around the true width and orientation of the mineralised zones, prompting the current infill drilling to better define strike and dip.
Strategic Location in a Proven Gold District
Music Well’s 1,242 square kilometre tenement package is among the largest in the region and strategically abuts several active mines, including the Darlot Gold Mine just 12 kilometres north and King of the Hills 20 kilometres west. The geological setting at Clifton East shows parallels with the Gold Cities deposit near Kalgoorlie, a substantial 1.4 million-ounce granite-hosted gold system, adding weight to the prospectivity of Augustus’s ground.
Andrew Ford, Augustus’s General Manager Exploration, emphasised the significance of the initial results and the excitement around the follow-up program: "The Phase 1 drilling program at Clifton East has delivered excellent results and the follow-up program to further define the strike and dip of the gold mineralisation has begun. I’m back on the rig and looking forward to getting more holes into this exciting prospect."
Broader Exploration Plans and Assay Timelines
Alongside the Clifton East drilling, Augustus plans soil sampling at other promising targets within Music Well, notably Black Cat East and Teutonic East, aiming to elevate these areas to drill-ready status. This multi-pronged approach reflects a clear strategy to expand the footprint of gold mineralisation across the project.
Assay results from the follow-up drilling are anticipated in late June to early July, with one-metre fire assay samples currently in the laboratory from intervals flagged in the initial composite sampling. These results will be critical to confirming the continuity and grade of mineralisation and informing future drilling and resource modelling.
This drilling campaign follows a recent $2.5 million capital raise, which was designed to accelerate exploration at Music Well and other projects, providing the financial backing necessary for sustained fieldwork and assay programs. The placement, led by Evolution Capital, underscores investor appetite for Augustus’s exploration potential and supports the company’s active drilling agenda across its portfolio $2.5M capital raise.
The initial drilling campaign was completed in March, with assays reported in April, marking a significant milestone in the project’s advancement and setting the stage for the current follow-up program. The company’s ongoing permitting and stakeholder engagement efforts in Papua New Guinea also continue alongside the Music Well activities, reflecting a diversified exploration strategy completed 1,100m RC drilling.
Bottom Line?
Upcoming assay results from the follow-up drilling will be pivotal in validating the strike continuity and grade consistency at Clifton East, shaping the next phase of exploration at Music Well.
Questions in the middle?
- Will the follow-up drilling confirm the strike and dip continuity suggested by the initial broad-spaced holes?
- How will soil sampling at Black Cat East and Teutonic East impact the prioritisation of future drill targets?
- What are the implications of geological similarities to the Gold Cities deposit for potential resource scale at Music Well?