At Thunderbolt prospect, drilling intersected 200m of argillic alteration from the start to end of the hole that includes two wide zones of sericite-silica alteration.
Drilling at the Quarry target intersected minor epithermal veins with wide silicification and hematite alteration towards the end-of-hole with elevated antimony, arsenic and molybdenum.
Regional bulk leach extractable gold samples taken across the project have also highlighted previously unrecognised areas of anomalism that require follow-up while soil samples collected across the southern vein field identified several new epithermal vein occurrences on the surface.
Legacy Minerals (ASX:LGM) added that petrographic analysis of rock samples had confirmed further sinter-related lithology about 2.5km south of the nearest, previously recognised sinter-related lithology.
This provides strong evidence supporting the preservation of the epithermal system over a significantly larger area of the Bauloora vein field than previously interpreted.
Managing director Christopher Byrne said it was encouraging that the latest reconnaissance drilling at Bauloora had demonstrated evidence of major structures and broad halo alteration zones as it moved further away from known high-grade drill intercepts and surface geochemistry.
“From the drilling results, it appears that two of the Quarry prospect holes did not intercept the large veins mapped on the surface,” he said.
“The team is incorporating these recently received drilling results to inform our interpreted dip of these veins further and to rank targets for future exploration.
“In preparation for the next round of exploration, the company has collected systematic surface geochemical samples across projected southerly extensions of the known vein field.
“In doing so, the team on the ground collected several rock chip samples of previously unrecognised epithermal veins and confirmed sinter-related lithology in the south.
“This observation increases the prospectivity of the vein field in the south due to the strong preservation evidence provided through petrological analysis.”
The four diamond holes drilled at Bauloora tested the Thunderbolt and Quarry prospects that were defined by a combination of anomalous soil geochemistry and geophysical signatures.
These holes have confirmed epithermal-style alteration with veining beneath elevated pathfinder rock chip and soil geochemical results and mapped veins while also suggesting that the main targets at Quarry may not have been satisfactorily tested.
LGM notes the size and intensity of the alteration system intersected by the single hole at Thunderbolt is encouraging.
At Quarry, the first hole appeared to have missed the target veins, which may dip in an easterly direction, a point supported by the lack of alteration and veins in QU002 and the easterly dipping altered and veined zone intersected by QU003.
Meanwhile, the regional stream sediment BLEG sampling program has highlighted several new catchments along strike to the north and south of the Bauloora vein field that are not covered by any existing soils, drilling or rock chip results.
The company has also completed the southern extension to the soil sampling program with 2002 samples collected across 7.5km2 at 50m by 100m spacing.
This is important as soil sampling in the northern portion of the vein field was critical in the targeting strategy at the project.
Looking ahead, LGM will focus on ground truthing the newly identified areas of anomalism from the BLEG and soil sampling.
In parallel to these activities the understanding gained from the drilling will be incorporated into the targeting strategy and target ranking criteria for the Project which will further refine targets for follow up testing.
