Kali Metals Strengthens Marble Bar Gold Discovery With 10.8g/t Hit
Kali Metals has reported a 2.36-metre intersection grading 10.8g/t gold from just 8.7 metres at its Marble Bar project in Western Australia. The Phase II results extend the shallow gold system across a cumulative 3km strike, but the project remains at the exploration stage with no mineral resource yet defined.
- 2.36m at 10.8g/t gold from 8.7m in diamond hole MBDD004
- 1.8m at 7.4g/t gold from surface in MBDD002
- Phase II program covered 4,059m of RC and 282m of diamond drilling
- Mineralisation traced across a cumulative 3km strike to approximately 50m vertical depth
- Follow-up drilling, a potential resource estimate and mining licence application are planned
Shallow Diamond Drilling Delivers High Grades
Kali Metals Limited (ASX:KM1) has reported its strongest Marble Bar results to date from diamond drilling, including 2.36 metres at 10.8g/t gold from 8.7 metres in hole MBDD004. A second hole returned 1.8 metres at 7.4g/t from surface, reinforcing the company’s description of the system as shallow and outcropping.
The reported intervals are down-hole lengths, not confirmed true widths. Kali says the mineralisation is flat to gently dipping and that down-hole lengths appear likely to be similar to true widths, although the relationship has not yet been accurately determined. The company’s headline rounds the MBDD004 result to 2.6 metres, while the detailed assay table records 2.36 metres.
Phase II Drilling Tests a Three-Kilometre Gold System
Phase II comprised 4,059 metres of reverse circulation drilling and 282 metres of diamond drilling. The campaign was designed to test mineralisation mapped at surface over a cumulative 3km strike and to examine its down-dip extension at the Sherman, Tiger, Tiger 2 and Churchill prospects.
Earlier RC results from the same program included 3 metres at 3.4g/t gold from 41 metres in MBRC081 and 5 metres at 1.0g/t from 41 metres in MBRC082. Drilling has been conducted on lines generally 40 to 60 metres apart, with holes spaced more tightly in the outcropping zone. Kali says the mineralisation has so far been followed to only about 50 metres vertical depth.
The geology is also relatively clear, at least at this early stage: gold is associated with quartz veining and strong potassic alteration in granodiorite and gneiss within the Mt Edgar Intrusive Complex. The company says most positive samples have returned average grades of 1g/t to 3g/t, while fewer than 1% of samples have exceeded 10g/t. That places the standout diamond intersections in the high-grade minority rather than presenting them as representative of every metre drilled.
New Prospects Expand the Exploration Queue
Kali is designing follow-up drilling at four newly identified prospects, with particular attention on Stug. Rock-chip sampling at Stug and the other prospects has returned grades from 3.9g/t to 53.1g/t gold, while the mapped Stug quartz vein currently extends for 250 metres at surface. Those results are surface samples and do not establish continuity or a mineable body.
Over the next six months, the company plans further mapping, reconnaissance of gold-in-soil anomalies, drone imagery and a high-resolution hyperspectral survey across its Pilbara tenements. It also intends to undertake additional RC drilling, internal technical and development studies, work towards a potential mineral resource estimate and apply for a mining licence. Kali expressly conditions any future resource estimate on successful exploration, leaving the next drilling campaign to determine whether the attractive shallow intersections can be connected into something more substantial.
Bottom Line?
The high-grade hits improve Marble Bar’s exploration case, but the next test is continuity: Kali still needs more drilling before a 3km geological footprint can become a defined resource.
Questions in the middle?
- Will follow-up drilling show that the high-grade diamond intersections are continuous across the four main prospects?
- How much of the mapped 3km strike can ultimately support a compliant mineral resource estimate?
- Can Stug’s surface rock-chip grades translate into coherent mineralisation below ground?
