The results are from new sampling of historical diamond drill core at Drake, which includes three granted exploration licences (EL6273, EL9616, EL9727) and one assessment lease application (ALA75).

These holes were completed by Thomson Resources in 2021 for a planned definitive feasibility study (DFS) on the Drake Project but were never assayed.

Drilling was within the Strauss and Kylo deposits as well as adjacent areas

Legacy Minerals’ (ASX:LGM) team reviewed the historical drill data and determined the holes were worthy of analysis, with the results highlighting Drake’s grade and scale potential.

Some of the highlight results include 95m at 0.9g/t gold and 0.35% zinc from 2m, including 10m at 6g/t gold from 69m, 18m at 1.4g/t gold, 10g/t silver and 3.8% lead and zinc from surface as well as 52m at 0.7g/t gold and 0.9% lead and zinc from 3m.

The Drake project has similar characteristics to other major epithermal-porphyry deposits, including the Porgera deposit and Kainantu deposit (18Moz AuEq) in Papua New Guinea.

A combined resource of 23.1Mt at 1.1g/t AuEq for the gold-rich areas and 11.3Mt at 99g/t AgEq for silver-rich resources across the Mt Carrington, Red Rock and White Rock deposits reflects the changed commodity and precious metal prices, the polymetallic value across the deposits and more robust and extensive geological modelling.

While gold and silver are the dominant metals, the Drake resource also includes 147,000t and 20,000t of contained zinc and copper respectively, both of which were recently added to the Australian Government’s critical minerals list as key minerals important for the global transition to net zero.

The explorer is also reviewing the historical pre-feasibility study for Drake as a significant portion of the upgraded resource sits outside the area it considered.

LGM CEO and managing director Christopher Bryne said these diamond drill holes were completed historically to assess the geotechnical characteristics of the open pit walls in preparation for a definitive prefeasibility study.

“As such, they were not targeting mineralisation and were not sent for assay despite large zones of visible sulphides,” he said.

“These results build on previous high-grade drilling including 12.82m at 48g/t gold and 2,589g/t silver from 16m and 118m at 1.71g/t gold and 1.12% zinc from 2m; demonstrating the scale and potential of the system which was confirmed in the recently announced mineral resource estimate and the stage one scoping study at Drake.

“The airborne mobile-magnetotelluric geophysical survey is also now complete at Drake – the results will provide the first systematic look at the broader region in 30 years, and we’re excited by the potential insights it will deliver near the current mineral resource and regionally.”