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Andrew Todd
Golden Dragon Mining has unveiled a whopping million-ounce-plus gold target on its Cue project in Western Australia, following an independent review of up to 14 priority targets.
The review was completed by experts Bare Rock Geoscience and suggests the scale and continuity of the project’s shear systems are consistent with numerous similar orogenic gold camps across WA, typically containing at least a million ounces of gold.
Golden Dragon says much of the historical exploration across the company’s commanding 600-square-kilometre land package has been shallow and piecemeal, with earlier operators rarely drilling deep enough to properly test the more than 50 kilometres of mineralised shear zones.
Despite numerous gold at surface prospects, most of the structural corridors at Cue remain untouched by modern exploration.
This has left a considerable discovery opportunity on the table, with Golden Dragon now rolling out a chock-full exploration pipeline to systematically rank and test its targets.
‘This review reinforces that Golden Dragon offers investors exposure to a district-scale landholding in the Murchison’
Golden Dragon Mining managing director Simon Buswell-Smith
The company says that of the 14 targets generated, ten have been classed in the medium-to-high range for follow-up work and drilling, with its most advanced prospects, Behring Bore and Coodardy, already tested with the truth-telling rig.
The company’s maiden drilling campaign at Coodardy last year delivered a suite of promising high-grade, near-surface hits, including 8m at 7.3 grams per tonne (g/t) gold from just 20m and another 8m hit grading 5.1 g/t gold.
That initial campaign was deemed highly successful by management, prompting a 3600-metre reverse circulation (RC) extensional drilling follow-up that has now wrapped up, with assays expected in the coming month.
Of the latest high-priority targets identified in the review, its Big Bell SZ extension, Jeffery Well and Stockyard East prospects all sit as high-priority, drill-ready targets for the company’s ongoing exploration in the Murchison.
Notably, Big Bell SZ sits along strike from Westgold’s historic Big Bell gold mine, which hosts a monster 5 million ounces of gold within its greenstone belt’s anticlines. It remains the only discovery along the highly prospective gold corridor, leaving the region ripe for another discovery.
Golden Dragon Mining managing director Simon Buswell-Smith said: “This review reinforces that Golden Dragon offers investors exposure to a district-scale 600 km² landholding in the Murchison, anchored by more than 50 km of mineralised shear zones with the structural capacity to host multiple gold centres typical of +1Moz orogenic camps.”
The Cue project sits in the heart of WA’s Murchison region, a tier-one mining jurisdiction that has produced more than 35 million ounces of gold.
The area is bustling with activity from major operators. Westgold Resources’ massive Big Bell and Bluebird mines to Ramelius Resources’ recently acquired 2.5-million-ounce Dalgaranga project.
It’s not just the presence of these multi-million-ounce deposits that underscores the region’s pedigree, the district continues to churn out consistently high-grade discoveries.
Should Golden Dragon strike paydirt, a lucrative toll-treatment deal similar to that secured by its $500 million neighbour, New Murchison Gold could offer a fast, low-risk path to production for a similarly high-grade discovery.
With a clear path forward, the company plans to progress its advanced Behring Bore prospect with deeper drilling, while kicking off soil surveys and mapping at its plethora of other targets.
A first-pass aircore drilling program is also on the cards for the Jeffery Well target along the Big Bell shear zone.
With a follow-up drill program already complete and assays due in early April, Golden Dragon is laying the groundwork to unlock what it says could be the region’s next sleeping million-ounce-plus gold camp.
Is your ASX-listed company doing something interesting? Contact: mattbirney@bullsnbears.com.au
