"Our Hammerdown and Orion gold deposits lay within a 5km deformation zone that has numerous exploration targets identified from our geophysics and structural work. We strongly believe there is potential for additional discoveries within this largely untested area and will be aggressively exploring this area for new high-grade resources similar to Hammerdown," said Maritime president and CEO, Garett Macdonald.
"At Hammerdown, we intend to explore the deeper, untested levels of the deposit to determine if an offset of the high-grade gold vein system exists. Additional infill drilling will be completed within the PEA (preliminary economic assessment) mine plan targeting the conversion of inferred resources to measured and indicated classes. Maritime and its contractors have consulted with NL Occupational Health and Safety to develop and follow safe work procedures to deal with the COVID-19 virus. The company plans to provide regular updates to the market in the coming months," added Macdonald.
The initial 10,000m drill programme over 125 new diamond drill holes includes the Hammerdown offset target - 2,000 m of planned drilling. This is exploration drilling below the Captain Nemo fault on both the hangingwall (HW) and footwall (FW) sides of the deposit to be completed with the aim of locating areas of new mineralisation. To date minimal exploration has been completed either within the HW or FW of the deposit. Testing this target may vector towards the structural offset and/or offer potential to find a new zone of mineralisation similar to the original high-grade Hammerdown deposit.
Meanwhile, the planned 4,000m of deposit infill drilling at Hammerdown within the PEA mine plan is aimed at converting inferred resources to measured and indicated resources and will provide additional samples for further technical studies and pre-concentration test work.
Additional infill drilling in areas where mineralised zones are open along strike and at depth has the potential to increase mineral resources and reduce waste volumes within the PEA mine plan, thereby lowering the open pit strip ratio. The infill programme will also define the interstitial gold mineralization, which offers a further opportunity to increase the near-surface mineral resources.
For grade control testing 1,000m of drilling is planned. An initial grade control test will be completed in an area of the PEA open pit mine design to evaluate the short-range variability of gold grades and provide further information for mineral resource estimation work. Drill hole spacing of 12.5m will be tested in an area measuring 65m x 40m at 50m depth, which is expected to be mined in year one.
On the Hammerdown to Orion mineralised corridor 2,000m of drilling is planned. The 2km in strike length between the two gold deposits has been lightly explored and represents an exciting exploration target for the company as high-resolution magnetic and induced polarization geophysical surveys completed in 2019 identified several structures and drill targets.
For the Orion gold deposit, which is located approximately 2km of Hammerdown and is open at depth and along strike, 1,000m of infill drilling is planned. It is planned to target the upper 200m of the deposit with the goal of converting inferred resources to measured and indicated resources. The drill programme will also test the expansion of key areas of higher-grade mineralisation.
In support of a planned feasibility study at the Hammerdown gold project, the 2020 exploration programme will also include a grade control testing programme that will provide further understanding of grade control procedures in an open-pit mining scenario and short-range variability of gold grades. Detailed shallow drilling will test the current mineral resource down to 50m below surface in the proposed open-pit design with a drill hole spacing of 12.5m. Infill drilling will also be completed at the Orion deposit targeting the conversion of inferred resources to measured and indicated classifications.
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