Key Highlights

  • All five RC holes at Providence intersected gold above 0.5 g/t, with high-grade results in four of them.
  • Hole 26MNRC0041 returned 5 m at 6.4 g/t gold from 113 m, including 1 m at 28.2 g/t.
  • Intercepts around 50 m depth in holes 26MNRC0039 to 0041 are interpreted as a new structure northwest of known mineralisation.
  • Providence carries an Inferred Resource of 204,700 t at 2.5 g/t gold for 16,400 oz.

Desert Minerals Limited (ASX:DSM) has received assay results from a five-hole reverse circulation program at the Providence Prospect, part of the Mt Monger Gold Project southeast of Kalgoorlie in Western Australia. Every hole intersected mineralisation above 0.5 g/t gold, and the best single metre graded 28.2 g/t. Three of the holes also recorded gold at about 50 m depth that the company interprets as a new shallow structure northwest of the known Providence mineralisation. The program totalled 1,020 m across holes 26MNRC0039 to 26MNRC0043.

Results From the Providence RC Holes

Hole 26MNRC0039, drilled to 168 m, returned 2 m at 9.7 g/t gold from 52 m, with individual metres at 11.6 g/t and 7.87 g/t. It also recorded 2 m at 1.8 g/t from 96 m and 1 m at 3.2 g/t from 108 m. Hole 26MNRC0040, drilled to 192 m, intersected 1 m at 1.7 g/t from 51 m. In 26MNRC0041, drilled to 204 m, the company reported 1 m at 6.7 g/t from 51 m and 5 m at 6.4 g/t from 113 m, which includes 1 m at 28.2 g/t from 115 m.

Hole 26MNRC0042, drilled to 210 m, returned two high-grade zones: 3 m at 7.0 g/t from 107 m, including 1 m at 19.2 g/t, and 3 m at 4.6 g/t from 134 m, including 1 m at 10.6 g/t. Hole 26MNRC0043, the deepest at 246 m, recorded only 1 m at 0.6 g/t from 170 m. Desert Minerals interprets that hole as having passed beneath a south-westerly plunging high-grade shoot, noting earlier intercepts above it such as 4 m at 11.2 g/t from 106 m in 22MNRC022.

A New Structure Near 50 Metres Depth

The drilling was designed to test extensions below earlier high-grade zones within the Providence system. Intercepts at around 50 m in holes 26MNRC0039 to 0041 are read as a separate shallow structure, and the company says it remains open to the northwest. The program also confirmed multiple mineralised structures within Providence, which is open to the northwest and southwest at shallow depth.

High-grade gold is tied to moderate to intense quartz veining, typically with sulphides, silica flooding and biotite and chlorite alteration at the vein margins. Interbedded shales, volcaniclastics and basalts appear more favourable than the more competent dolerites and volcanics, though controls on the higher-grade portions are still being refined. Early indications point to an overall north-westerly plunge. Holes were drilled perpendicular to the interpreted veining, and true widths cannot yet be estimated.

Resource, Tenure and Corporate Position

The Mt Monger Gold Project holds an initial JORC 2012 Inferred Mineral Resource of 204,700 t at 2.5 g/t gold for 16,400 oz at Providence, located 45 km southeast of Kalgoorlie. Historical drilling at the prospect includes 8 m at 31.84 g/t from 66 m in 21MNRC007, with 1 m at 190.06 g/t, and 8 m at 16.15 g/t from 60 m in 21MNRC0044. Other prospects named in the release are Divine, Hoffmann, Samocynda, Orion and Titan.

Samples were split on the rig, sent to ALS in Kalgoorlie and analysed by 50 g fire assay, with quality control samples making up more than 10% of assays. Mining lease M26/867 is owned 80% by Mt Monger Exploration Pty Ltd and 20% by Cascade Resources. Desert Minerals also holds the Scotty Lithium Project in Nevada, and Executive Chairman Peretz Shapiro said the company continues to assess new project and corporate opportunities.

Where Providence Stands After the Program

Five holes and 1,020 m of RC drilling have added a shallow structure at about 50 m, four high-grade results and a best metre of 28.2 g/t to the Providence dataset. The resource remains at 16,400 oz Inferred, and the company has said further geological interpretation, geochemical analysis and possible additional drilling are planned for the area.