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Andrew Todd
Advance Metals has discovered new visible gold mineralisation less than 50m below surface at its Happy Valley prospect in Victoria’s goldfields.
A step-out diamond hole intersected the gold in a previously unrecognised quartz vein structure roughly 100m east of the old mine area. The assay results confirmed the zone’s strength, returning a 0.6-metre hit grading a whopping 66.7 grams per tonne (g/t) gold from 51m.
The intercept marks the shallowest gold mineralisation drilled at Happy Valley to date and sits outside any previously mapped lodes.
Structural measurements show the new vein trends nearly north-south, closely aligned with the narrow, high-grade reefs that formed the historic mining operations at Happy Valley way back in the mid-to-late 1800’s.
The company says its drilling will continue from a newly established pad further north, designed to test both the fresh structure at depth and extensions of the main Happy Valley lodes.
A second diamond rig remains active along strike, targeting regional prospects to the northwest and southeast.
Two holes have now been completed at Advance’s nearby Queen of the Hills prospect, with a third hole underway.
Assays from these regional holes are expected in early February, with the deeper section of today’s discovery hole due in the coming weeks.
The company says the latest discovery is pivotal, providing a key building block to its recent depth extensions at Happy Valley. In November, Advance extended the historic mine at depth with a 3.7-metre hit running 16.6g/t gold, some 140m below the previous deepest known mineralisation, confirming the system remains open at depth.
The new shallow intercept therefore adds a near-surface layer to the broader Happy Valley trend, which stretches over 13km and hosts multiple historic workings yet to see modern systematic exploration.
Advance also holds a trio of high-grade silver-gold projects in Mexico in Yoquivo and Guadalupe y Calvo in Chihuahua and Gavilanes in Durango.
Together they carry foreign non-compliant resources of more than 100 million ounces of silver-equivalent, led by Guadalupe y Calvo at 60.6 million ounces. Recent drilling at Yoquivo’s 17.23-million-ounce deposit returned further high-grade extensional results, up to a bonanza 5739g/t silver equivalent. The results appear perfectly timed as both gold and silver prices continue to surge to all-time historic highs.
Resampling of thousands of metres of historic core continues to add data to an upgraded JORC-compliant resource estimate, which is targeted for the first quarter of this year. The company remains confident it can squeeze out as much as 200 million ounces of silver from it Mexican portfolio.
Advance is absolutely kicking the door in on opposite sides of the globe with its precious metals portfolio. With two rigs still ploughing away in Victoria and a fresh shallow vein grading 66.7g/t gold, Happy Valley just found itself a new dance partner, making sure the punters stay tuned as the music picks up.
Is your ASX-listed company doing something interesting? Contact: mattbirney@bullsnbears.com.au
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