Gold and base metals explorer Westar Resources Ltd (ASX: WSR) has made a slew of lucky finds from early assessments of historic workings around its WA Mindoolah gold project.
The company reported assays of gold grading beyond 40 grams per tonne and silver above 210 grams per tonne.
Among 14 grab-bag samples taken from historically mined stockpiles at the Mindoolah Mining Centre were gold assays up to 40.7 grams per tonne, as well as silver assays grading up to 214 grams per tonne.
Westar was also able to identify high grades among the quartz veins found in the Centre’s modern-day open pits, with rock chipping of these yielding gold of up to 1.7 grams per tonne and silver up to 16.1 gram per tonne.
The company completed a first-pass assessment of the Mindoolah Mining Centre in March, noting that it had previously held workings there dating as far back as the 1900s, with gold being taken from quartz veins in the area.
Executive director Lindsay Franker said the company was impressed by the strong grades that had been picked up from early assessment of the mining centre – located within the Murchison Mineral Field – and was considering its options.
“We are very encouraged by these excellent initial results and, coupled with numerous yet to be tested historic workings and open pits, highlight the potential at the Mindoolah Mining Centre,” he said.
“We look forward to systematically evaluating the stockpiles and open pits, with immediate focus on determining the potential for an open pit cutback and possibly toll treating ore at nearby processing plants.”
Westar has been trading at 1.1c.