Kula Gold, Aurumin buoyed by up to 1-ounce-per-tonne WA drilling results

Kula Gold’s Mt Palmer gold mine near Southern Cross carries some exceptional gold grades but has been subject to very little exploration since it closed during World War II. With buoyant gold prices and Kula’s exploration, the old show could soon see a new lease of life. Credit: File

Kula Gold (ASX: KGD) has nailed good gold in recent 1-metre re-assays of 3m composite results the company received two months ago from its joint venture Mt Palmer gold project, near Southern Cross. A best updated hit of 18m at 4.4 grams per tonne (g/t) gold from surface includes 2m assaying 32.3g/t gold from 15m.

The original intercept, based on 3m composite sampling, delivered a best result of 18m at 4.7g/t gold from surface, including 3m at 23.4g/t gold.

The re-assaying relates to April results from Kula Gold’s Mt Palmer gold project, which Kula owns in an 80:20 joint venture with fellow ASX-listed explorer Aurumin Limited (ASX: AUN) .

The second-best intercept produced from the 1m re-assays delivered 7m going 7.7g/t gold from surface, including 3m running 17.2g/t gold from 3m.

The original 3m composite sampling analysis last April delivered 6m at 8.1g/t gold from surface, including 3m at 15.3g/t gold, which also points to a fair representivity of the faster composite sampling approach for reconnaissance.

A third-best 3m composite gave up 12m at 2.3g/t gold from 15m, which included 6m assaying 3.5g/t gold. The 1m re-assay produced 4m at 1.4g/t gold from 15m and 7m at 3.5g/t gold from 20m.

Explorers often undertake composite sampling to speed up drilling programs, reduce consumable use and reduce assay costs, especially where knowledge of the environment being drilled is uncertain.

If an explorer gets the feeling from initial results that it is “in the zone”, it may dispense with the composite analyses and go straight to smaller sample intervals, which are typically 1m in Australian mineral exploration.

Comparing Kula’s 3m composites and later 1m re-assays suggests the 3m composites are fairly representative of mineralisation for scout drilling.

Overall, the original drilling came up with a bunch of solid gold intercepts, which reinforce Kula’s view of Mt Palmer’s potential to come up with the goods.

Which made it logical for Kula to examine the distribution of gold mineralisation and pick out localised signs of grade enhancement, especially within or near known structural influences.

A sniff of mineralisation showing up in a composite almost always needs to be revisited to better resolve what is going on, and the longer the composite run is, the more this observation applies.

These results from Kula’s Mt Palmer gold project continue to enhance the potential that our team saw in this asset. The individual 1m splits with some intervals being around an ounce of gold per tonne (+31g/t) are continuing to advance this exciting stage of exploration towards a resource in the near term.

Kula Gold Managing Director Ric Dawson

The shallow depth results so far show early potential for low-cost open-pit mining, which could change depending on the drilling in progress, as well as its orebody wireframing, modelling and economic studies.

Kula is continuing with its analytical program on selected 1m splits, while stage two drilling is underway.

The company is leaning toward non-destructive photon analysis as its preferred assay method, as it offers a bigger and more representative sample size.

Photon assay is used for rapid, non-destructive analysis of gold, silver and other elements in geological and process samples. The technology is capable of faster, more environmentally friendly analysis than traditional fire assay and is often used for high-grade and/or coarse gold, which can be difficult to accurately interpret due to the “nugget effect”.

The new method is non-destructive, which means a sample can be re-used for repeat or alternative analyses and other investigations, such as multi-element work and metallurgy.

Kula already sees benefits from using the new method, particularly when close-spaced drill holes return wildly differing gold grades from the same zone or when a hole analysed by fire assay misses what later turns out to be significant gold.

The old Mt Palmer mine produced more than 150,000 ounces at 15.9g/t gold from 1934 to 1944. It closed partly due to labour and materials shortages during World War II, became flooded and was never reopened.

The old show has seen little systematic exploration since then, until Kula reopened it and launched a more concerted investigation, invigorated by the buoyant gold price.

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