ONGOING exploration by Geopacific Resources has led to the discovery of a new gold zone at the Kou Sa project in Cambodia. The discovery at Prospect 190 is the first time that epithermal gold-silver mineralization has been encountered at the project in the country’s north and augurs well for Prospect 170 where there is similar surface geochemistry.
The gold zone at Prospect 190 was targeted from previous drilling with the most recent campaign targeting zones down-plunge to the west and at depth. The prospect was originally identified from geochemical soil sampling, which produced a strong gold and coincident arsenic anomaly.
Recent reverse circulation drilling at Geopacific’s Kou Sa project.
The most recent drilling returned 7.35 metres from 88.4 metres @ 10.93ppm gold and 121.65ppm silver for 12.39 grams/tonne gold equivalent, including 4.55 metres from 91.2 metres @ 17.14ppm gold and 193.87ppm silver for 19.47 grams/tonne gold equivalent.
This high-grade gold and silver mineralization has been intercepted within a wider zone of strongly altered rocks that are also mineralised. Drilling has confirmed that the system is improving with depth.
Geopacific says the results of the drilling are encouraging and expects that the system will continue along strike to the west and to a greater depth. Further drilling is planned at Prospect 190 in the near future and will test for extensions to the current mineralisation.
Managing director Ron Heeks said, “We have a new gold discovery – these results confirm the presence of high-grade gold and silver epithermal mineralisation at Kou Sa. They also reinforce the potential of this area to host a significant, deeper source that has shown multiple mineralisation styles over a widespread area.
“We are hopeful that Prospect 190 will develop into a significant gold-silver zone and complement the high-grade gold and silver mineralisation found at prospects 150 and 160.”
The drilling at Prospect 190 is also encouraging for Prospect 170, to the southwest of the Kou Sa licence. The surface geochemistry is very similar in nature to Prospect 190 with several holes encountering high-grade silver mineralisation. This suggests they may also be intercepting the upper region of an epithermal system.
Geopacific’s strategy is to develop Kou Sa to generate revenue that will support expansion. The target is a kick-starter maiden resource and scoping study to take the project into production with a modest but profitable operation and ongoing exploration to increase the scale of the project well beyond the initial resource.