Black Cat Syndicate Limited (ASX:BC8) has commenced underground diamond drilling at the Paulsens Gold Operation in Western Australia.
Highlights
• Paulsens has produced 907koz @ 7.3g/t Au and currently hosts an underground Resource of 89koz @ 5.9g/t Au for a total endowment of ~1 million ounces.
• A programme of ~7,000m of underground diamond drilling has commenced testing near-mine opportunities to grow Resources and find “another Paulsens”, including:
o The “Paulsens Repeat” structural target located ~200m below and parallel to the decline as identified in a $2M, 3D seismic survey. Paulsens itself has a strike length of >2,200m and the analogous Paulsens Repeat extends for ~1,250m
o Down-plunge extensions of the near-surface Apollo Lodes, containing several high-grade intersections outside of the current Resource, including:
2.28m @ 28.05g/t Au from 11.52m (PDU0241)
1.24m @ 35.98g/t Au from 18.72m (PDU0430)
o The “Gabbro Veins” which are located adjacent to existing workings, with a potential strike extent of ~1,000m and containing numerous high-grade intersections including:
1.25m @ 131.50g/t Au from 58.80m (PPDU3754)
1.05m @ 66.20g/t Au from 118.40m (PDU2765)
“Commencement of our first drill program at Paulsens is a significant milestone for Black Cat and has the potential to transform the asset for us,” Managing Director, Gareth Solly, said.
“The asset is target-rich and offers many opportunities to significantly grow the Resource base near existing underground workings and also find a new, high-grade Paulsens-style deposit which would be a game changer for the company. We will be drilling for several months and hope to be reporting results from this drilling before the end of the current quarter.”
Paulsens Gold
Large Scale Area, 100% Controlled by Black Cat
• 530 sq. km of highly prospective ground is 100% owned and controlled by Black Cat.
• Current Resource of 217koz @ 4.9g/t Au.
Background
• Underground mining at Paulsens produced 907koz @ 7.3g/t Au at an average of 75koz pa.
• ~1Moz endowment including current Resources: Underground 89koz @ 5.9g/t Au; Mt Clement 51koz @ 1.8 g/t Au, Belvedere 30koz @ 3.9g/t Au, Electric Dingo 22koz @ 1.3g/t Au and Northern Anticline 24koz @ 1.4g/t Au.
• Previous regional exploration largely involved surface exploration with numerous gold and base metal anomalies identified but with only limited follow-up.
Infrastructure in Place, Ready for a Low-Cost Restart
• Paulsens has been kept on care and maintenance since 2018.
• Well maintained 450ktpa processing facility requiring minimal restart capital.
• +110-person camp on site, also rented out to third parties for short-medium term accommodation.
• Mine and advanced Resources on granted Mining Licences, minimal barriers to restart.
• Underground mine fully dewatered and ventilated; processing water readily available.
• Excellent access with sealed road and gas pipeline within 7kms of site.
Significant Opportunities at All Stages – Multi-metal Potential
• While traditionally regarded as a gold region, Paulsens has mutli-metal potential as is demonstrated by numerous base-metal (including Cu, Pb and Zn) targets, antimony at Eastern Hills and thermal coal at Kazput.
• Paulsens is located in a prospective regional setting for orogenic gold mineralisation and the multi-metal potential remains under-explored. There are four main prospect areas – the 15km long Paulsens Structural Corridor (“PSC”), the Northern Anticline, Mt Clement/Eastern Hills and Electric Dingo.
• The PSC is a complex zone of faults with the main structure through the PSC being the Hardey Fault. All gold mined to date at the Paulsens underground mine comes from where the Hardey Fault (and related fault splays) cuts through the Paulsens Mine Gabbro. Finding similar faulted-off gabbros is a priority given the obvious grade and scale potential.
• Underground drilling in 2022 includes:
o Targets located close to existing infrastructure being the Gabbro Veins and Apollo with the potential of readily accessible ounces; and
o Paulsens Repeat located 200m from the decline and representing a large-scale, faulted-off gabbro targeting “another Paulsens”.
For further information please visit: https://bc8.com.au/
