Great Northern Minerals Limited (ASX:GNM) has released its interim JORC resource estimate for the Golden Cup Gold Mine in Northern Queensland following the completion of its latest drilling campaign.
Managing Director, Cameron McLean, said the initial inferred resource estimate is 256,000 tonnes at 3.6 g/t Au for approximately 30,000 ounces of contained gold at a 0.75 g/t Au cut-off grade.
The Golden Cup mineral resource is composed of three lodes located beneath three previously mined open pit gold mines. Lodes 2 and 3 are part of the same mineralised structure but their relationship to Lode 1 has not been established.
Mr McLean said the resource at Golden Cup is open with very little drilling below 50 metres vertically or outside the mineralisation model through Lodes 2 & 3 and Lode 1.
Exploration next year will seek to determine if these lodes represent an offset of the same structure or two parallel zones.
Mr McLean said historic gold production from the Golden Cup oxide zone was approximately 20,000 ounces and when combined with the current resource this takes the total endowment at Golden Cup to 50,000 ounces of gold which compares favourably with GNM’s previously announced exploration target.
The Golden Cup resource is refractory with preliminary metallurgy indicating that gold will report to a sulphide concentrate and there are several mills capable of processing this material within trucking distance.
The company has just completed a small RC drilling programme at Golden Cup, consisting of right holes to obtain further geological and QAQC data as recommended by AKB. Results from the recent drilling programme are expected to be received within the coming weeks.
Mr McLean said the coming year will see a significant drill programme with the aim to rapidly increase the resource at the Golden Cup Project.
Golden Cup, along with Camel Creek and Big Rush, is one of three gold mines acquired by Great Northern Minerals in August 2019.
