ASX Announcement 3 April 2017

COBAR GOLD PROJECT UPDATE REGIONAL REVIEW SUPPORTS POTENTIAL FOR LARGE GOLD SYSTEM
  • A regional structural review of the Cobar Gold Project supports the potential for a large gold system.
  • The structural controls noted by the review have strong affinities with the nearby Peak Gold trend, which hosts ~4Moz of gold over 8 kilometres of strike.
  • The review identified a series of northeast trending quartz vein arrays and breccia zones in northwest fault systems that appear to control high-grade gold.
  • The goldfield has potential to be more extensive than previously recognised and the known prospects

    (Battery Tank, Good Friday, Sunrise and Boundary) may be linked based on this new interpretation.

  • Diamond drilling has been completed at Battery Tank, Good Friday, Sunrise and Boundary Prospects. 8 holes (710m) have tested the northeast trending structures at each prospect.
  • Following detailed logging, assays from the first core hole, the extension of HRDD003 at the Good Friday Prospect has been received, expanding the high-grade gold intercept in the hole by 10m.
  • Results for HRDD003 now comprise: An intercept of 39m @ 2.4g/t Au from 29m including previously reported 8m @ 4.9g/t Au from 30m and 7.8m @ 4.0g/t Au from 50m within this interval1 The high-grade intercept lies within a broader intercept of 66m @ 1.5g/t Au from 2m.
  • Results for assays for the remaining holes are still awaited.
  • New target zones have been identified and auger soil grids over these zones to test for prospective geochemistry are underway. Approvals for a follow-up RC drill program targeting additional northeast structures in the known prospects, as well as first-pass drilling targeting similar structures in the new target areas, are also underway.

Helix Resources Limited (ASX:HLX) is pleased to provide an update with regard to its ongoing activities at the Cobar Gold Project in NSW.

Regional and Prospect Scale Structural Review

In conjunction with the recent diamond drilling program, Helix has carried out a regional and prospect scale structural review at the Cobar Gold Project with the assistance of an experienced geological and structural consultant.

Preliminary findings from this work, combined with a review of the detailed geology and structural information logged from the recent diamond program, indicates potential for a large gold system to be present at the Cobar Gold Project.

The regional structural review has illustrated similarities between the mineralising controls in the nearby Peak gold trend, which hosts around 4Moz of gold over an 8 kilometres strike length and the gold mineralising structural controls present within the Cobar Gold Project (refer Figure 1).

Figure 1: The Cobar Gold Project has a similar geological setting to the Peak Gold Trend, and is located within a productive mining district with several nearby long-life operations and significant new discoveries; including Helix's Collerina Copper Project.

The Peak gold trend is located along the limb of the Narri Anticline which hosts significant known gold deposits.

Prospects identified and drill tested within Helix's Cobar Gold Project have a similar geological setting adjacent to a similar anticlinal feature (the Restdown Anticline).

This observation and interpretation, in association with existing high grade gold mineralisation in similar structural positions to gold deposits within the Peak gold trend supports Helix's view that the Company's Cobar Gold Project may be host to a larger gold system than previously thought.

A key preliminary finding from the structural review is the presence of a series of northeast trending quartz vein arrays and breccia zones within the known prospects (Battery Tank, Good Friday, Sunrise and Boundary).

These zones appear to control high-grade gold in broader northwest mineralised corridors throughout the goldfield (refer to Figure 2 below).

Figure 2: Location of DDH collars over a pseudo-colour soils image illustrating likely position of high grade controls at the various prospects. Note thicker cover in drainage between prospects is affecting soil results and masking additional drill targets.

This new structural interpretation and planned follow-up drilling has the potential to improve the overall grade tenor throughout the known prospects in the goldfield (Battery Tank, Good Friday, Sunrise and Boundary), particularly if paralell repeats of the northeast structural zones continue to contain improved grades and widths of gold mineralisation.

New Target Areas

Recent regional reconnaisance mapping undertaken at the Cobar Gold Project in previously unassessed areas beyond the known prospects has identified several new targets.

The new targets include some zones northwest of the current prospects, where previously untested historic gold workings are present. These additional targets increase the known footprint of the goldfield to an area exceeding 10km in length and 5km wide.

These new regional targets are being prioritised with geochemistry, stuctural interpretations and ground-based mapping of alteration and geology. It is planned that these newly identified areas will be subject to first-pass drill testing in the second quarter.

Recent Diamond Drilling Program

Four new holes (two at the Battery Tank and two at the Sunrise Prospects) and four diamond tail extensions of previous holes (two at the Good Friday and two at the Boundary Prospects) have been completed for a total of 710m in a recent diamond drilling program (refer Table 2 below).

Following detailed geological and structural logging of the holes, the first assays received from the program are from the extension of HRDD003 at the Good Friday Prospect.

The assay results have expanded the gold interval in that hole to 39m @ 2.4g/t Au from 29m, within a broader interval of 66m @ 1.5g/t Au from 2m below surface (refer Table 1 below).

This interval includes two zones of high-grade gold located higher in the hole that were previously reported in the first 57.8m of the hole, drilled in the December quarter of 2016.

The high-grade gold zones included 8m @ 4.9g/t Au from 30m and 7.8m @ 4.0g/t Au from 50m¹.

The extensional drilling of HRDD003 has increased the high-grade zone at the Good Friday Prospect by approximately 10m.

Table 1: Good Friday HRDD003 significant intercepts - Cobar Gold Project

Hole ID

From

Intercept

HRDD003

2m

66m @ 1.5g/t Au

Incl.

29m

39m @ 2.4g/t Au

Incl.

30m

8m @ 4.9g/t Au¹

And

50m

7.8m @ 4.0g/t Au¹

Intervals reported are based on a 0.1g/t Au Cut-off grade with a maximum of 6m of internal dilution. DDH core (NQ) was sampled as half core over nominal 1m intervals. Samples were dried, pulverised and assayed for gold using a lead collection fire assay method.

The remaining diamond holes from this program have been subject to detailed geological and structural logging, with the core transported to the laboratory for cutting and assay (refer Table 2 below).

This drill program has visually confirmed the presence of northeast controlling structures at each of the known prospects.

It is interpreted that quartz veining and brecciation appears to have a strong influence on higher grade gold mineralisation within the broader northwest shear zones evident throughout the goldfield.

The assays for these outstanding drill holes are expected shortly, with all the drilling information to be compiled and integrated into the evolving geological model for the Project.

Table 2: Drill Collar Details - Cobar Gold Project

Project

Site_ID

Northing

Easting

Dip

Azi

TotalDepth

HoleType

EL6140

HRDD001Ext

6485903

427021

-60

227

173.6m (frm 93.8)m

DDH (NQ)

EL6140

HRDD003Ext

6485894

427013

-60

228

137.8m (frm 57.8m)

DDH(NQ)

EL6140

HRDD004

6486130

426050

-60

290

112m

DDH (HQ & NQ)

EL6140

HRDD005

6486125

426055

-60

270

109m

DDH (HQ & NQ)

EL6140

HRDD006

6485825

427545

-60

020

133m

DDH (HQ & NQ)

EL6140

HRDD007

6485833

427518

-60

020

101.6m

DDH (HQ & NQ)

EL8433

HRRC101Ext

6485920

428955

-60

70

136m (frm 94.5m)

DDH (NQ)

EL8433

HRRC103Ext

6485905

428970

-60

70

152.4m (98.5m)

DDH (NQ)

Helix Resources Limited published this content on 03 April 2017 and is solely responsible for the information contained herein.
Distributed by Public, unedited and unaltered, on 02 April 2017 22:56:08 UTC.

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