TNM Drill Down: Westgold tops week’s assays at Fortnum in Australia

Our TNM Drill Down features highlights of the top gold assays from Dec. 1-8. Drill holes are ranked by gold grade x width, as identified by data company Mining Intelligence.

Projects in Australia and South America led the week’s best results. Westgold Resources’ (ASX: WGX) Bryah-Fortnum mine in Western Australia returned the top assay. G2 Goldfields (TSXV: GTWO) followed with its Oko project in northern Guyana. Founders Metals (TSXV: FDR) was third with its Antino project in southeastern Suriname.

Fortnum in Australia

At Westgold’s Fortnum operation, drill hole NF1160GC38 cut 10 metres grading 443.75 grams gold per tonne from surface for a grade x width value of 4,442.

The assay from the Nightfall lode, underneath the producing Starlight underground mine, was part of grade control drilling at the site in the Bryah Basin, which also includes the company’s Fortnum processing plant and Horseshoe and Peak Hill mining areas, about 140 km northwest of Meekatharra.

Starlight provides 90% of the ore feed for the Fortnum plant.

“At Starlight the mine plan now extends 320 metres below the current decline face, representing four of years vertical advance at typical mining rates,” said Westgold managing director Wayne Bramwell.

He added that the Nightfall lode continues to outperform, which highlights the value drilling can unlock, with the first northern slope on the 1160 level now averaging more than 12 grams gold per tonne in production sampling.

Starlight historically produced more than 750,000 oz. of gold grading about 3.1 grams gold by open pit and shallow underground operations until 1993. From 1994 until 1998, Perilya Gold Mines worked the site, followed by Westgold from 2017. It has mined more than 240,000 oz. there.

Oko project in Guyana

In Guyana, G2 Goldfields currently has five diamond drill rigs operating at its 77.7-sq.-km Oko project. Drill hole OKD-180 cut 0.8 metre grading 1,275.1 grams gold from 255.3 metres depth for a width x grade value of 1020 at the project last week.

The high-grade hit came from an extensional vein of Shear 3, one of three primary shear zones hosting mineralization at Oko. Gold zones in Shear 3 appear to be hosted in separate upper and lower zones, G2 said, with hole 180 also returning 8.9 metres at 13 grams gold from 240 metres depth.

Hole 182 expanded the upper high-grade zone another 70 metres down-plunge returning 14.4 grams gold over 3.6 metres from 289.4 metres depth.

All of the Shear 3 zones remain open at depth, G2 said.

Oko hosts 3.2 million inferred tonnes grading 9.25 grams gold for 974,000 oz., and 793,000 indicated tonnes at 8.63 grams gold for 220,000 oz., according to a 2022 estimate.

“As we increase our knowledge and understanding of the (Oko) district, we also increase the probability of additional exploration success,” said G2 CEO Dan Noone, who added that the company plans to release an updated resource early next year.  

Antino in Suriname

In neighbouring Suriname, Founders Metals’ has drilled several high-grade intercepts at the Antino project near the border with French Guiana, just nine months after it acquired an option for 75% ownership from Orea Mining (TSX: OREA; US-OTC: OREAF).

Last week, Founders reported 6 metres grading 94.69 grams gold from 152 metres depth in hole GG001, for a width x grade value of 568.

The hole, drilled into the Froyo-Ginger connector zone at the Upper Antino target also returned 1 metre at 434.98 grams gold from the same depth; and 9 metres grading 22.84 grams gold from 125 metres depth.

“With gold grades reaching almost 13 ounces per ton, today’s results are a spectacular example of the high-grade gold mineralization at Upper Antino,” said Founders CEO Colin Padget. “We are also very excited to see additional gold zones away from the main structure as these potentially represent a much broader mineralized footprint than previously recognized.” 

Founders plans to spend $5.7 million on a 30,000-metre drilling program at Antino next year. It’s targeting an initial resource for 2025.