Positive initial results have been returned from a reverse circulation drilling program at Xanadu Mines’ Oyut Ulaan Copper-Gold Project in southern Mongolia. The drilling has been designed to test several near-surface high-priority, high-grade epithermal gold and gold-rich porphyry copper targets.
Exploration conducted in 2016 identified more than 47 epithermal and porphyry targets across Oyut Ulaan. Work in 2017 is focused on systematically drill testing the best of these targets to identify the highest value prospects.
Recent trenching has identified extensive shallow high-grade gold mineralisation in multiple epithermal gold veins at Target 33. Geology, geochemistry and geophysics indicate this target is up to 1km long and up to 150 metres wide.
A single drill hole was designed to test these gold-bearing quartz veins and intersected 22 metres from 40 metres @ 1.8 g/t, including 10 metres from 50 metres @ 3.7 g/t.
A second hole was collared to aid in determining the orientation of this zone of primary gold mineralisation and assays for this hole are pending.
Further drilling and trenching is under way to expand this new zone and identify potential high-grade shoots within this system.
A single diamond hole drilled at the Diorite Hill prospect was designed to test for possible extensions of high-grade copper and gold mineralisation. It returned 184 metres from surface @ 0.52% copper and 0.85 g/t gold, including 8 metres from 116 metres @ 1.24% copper and 3.19 g/t gold. This hole located the fault that offsets the Diorite Hill mineralisation.
Goephysical interpretation indicates Diorite Hill could be linked to a significant zone of porphyry mineralisation under shallow cover to the northeast.
Xanadu’s managing director and CEO Dr Andrew Stewart said, “We are very pleased to report that all the hard work put in by the geology team at Oyut Ulaan is starting to produce good drill results.
“These new results confirm that a significant zone of epithermal gold mineralisation at Target 33 extends below the high-grade oxide surface mineralisation, with one of the best RC drill intersections to date at Oyut Ulaan.
“We are now planning infill and extensional drilling and trenching to target the depth and strike extents which remain open.
“These initial results are very exciting and provide great upside to the Oyut Ulaan project, and a better understanding of the occurrence of gold and copper mineralisation at our other target areas.”
Xanadu Mines