Spectacular High-Grade Gold Intercepts Boost Koonenberry's Enmore Project
Koonenberry Gold (ASX:KNB) has announced exceptional gold assay results from its first diamond drill hole at the Enmore Gold Project's Sunnyside Prospect in northeast NSW, demonstrating the project's potential to host both broad intervals of gold mineralisation and spectacular high-grade gold zones.
First Drill Hole Delivers Exceptional Gold Results
The company's maiden diamond drill hole at Enmore has returned 170 meters at 1.75g/t gold from 77m, including an impressive high-grade zone of 18.3 meters at 9.95g/t gold from 172.9m. Within this intercept, a spectacular result of 0.3m at 144.5g/t gold was encountered from 173.8m.
This exceptional intercept aligns with the visible gold zones previously reported by the company and is associated with intense multiphase veining, sulphides, and breccia. The results validate historical drill results and strengthen the case for Enmore's significant gold potential.
Key highlights from the first hole include:
- 170m @ 1.75g/t Au from 77m
- Including 18.3m @ 9.95g/t Au from 172.9m
- Including 0.3m @ 144.5g/t Au from 173.8m
- Including 0.3m @ 131g/t Au from 174.4m
The mineralisation remains open up-dip in the preferred granite host rock, as well as along strike and at depth, pointing to significant exploration upside.
Ongoing Drilling Program
The company is currently executing a systematic diamond drilling program at Enmore with:
- Results from holes 2, 3 and 4, which also contained visible gold, expected in April
- Drilling continuing with hole 5 currently underway
- 1,630.3m completed with approximately 1,400m remaining in the program
KNB Managing Director Dan Power highlighted the significance of these results: "This is a truly exciting result from our first ever drill hole into the Enmore Project. This hole was planned to target high-grade vein sets at a high angle to the main shear zone and we have certainly demonstrated the potential for this system to carry exceptionally high gold grades as well as verifying the broad zones of gold mineralisation intersected in historical drilling."
Understanding the Gold System
The drill program has provided valuable insights into the Enmore gold system:
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Multiple Gold-Bearing Structures: Clear evidence of multiple orientations of veining with a primary set controlled by the main shear and a second order cross-cutting set dipping across the shear and granitic fabric.
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Significant Coarse Gold Component: Screen fire assays within the visible gold zones showed an overall 38% increase in gold values compared to standard fire assays. For assays >10g/t, the variance was 64%, confirming a strong coarse gold component at Sunnyside.
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Extensive Mineralisation: The company has demonstrated a 240m vertical depth extent of the mineralised system on three sections.
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Improved Geological Understanding: The company has identified a 125m wide structural corridor parallel to the granite-sediment contact that is prospective for granite-hosted gold mineralisation.
What is Screen Fire Assay?
Screen Fire Assay is a specialised analytical technique used when coarse gold is present in samples. Unlike standard fire assays, which can sometimes underestimate gold content when nugget effect is present, screen fire assays physically separate the sample into coarse and fine fractions, analysing each separately before combining results.
This method is crucial for accurately quantifying gold in deposits with a significant coarse gold component, as it ensures both coarse and fine gold are captured in the final grade. The 64% higher results from screen fire assays for high-grade samples at Enmore indicates a substantial nugget effect, which is often associated with high-grade gold results at Koonenberry Gold's Enmore project.
Strategic Context: The New England Fold Belt
The Enmore Gold Project covers 302km² and is located in the highly prospective New England Fold Belt in northeastern NSW, just 20km south of the Hillgrove Au-Sb Mine (1.7Moz Au). This geological region hosts several major gold deposits including Ravenswood Mine (8Moz Au), Mt Morgan Mine (7.7Moz Au, 0.36Mt Cu) and Cracow (2.5Moz Au).
Despite its total endowment of over 35Moz of gold, the New England Fold Belt remains underexplored, particularly in NSW, presenting a significant opportunity for Koonenberry Gold.
Why Investors Should Follow Koonenberry Gold
Koonenberry Gold represents a compelling investment opportunity for several key reasons:
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Exceptional Initial Results: The first diamond drill hole has delivered outstanding gold grades, validating the project's potential to host significant gold mineralisation.
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Multiple Catalysts: With results from three more drill holes expected in April and ongoing drilling, investors can expect a steady flow of news.
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Exploration Upside: The gold mineralisation remains open in multiple directions, offering substantial exploration potential.
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Strategic Position: Koonenberry's Enmore project is strategically positioned in the underexplored NSW segment of the gold-rich New England Fold Belt.
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Diversified Portfolio: Beyond Enmore, the company maintains one of the most significant exploration portfolios in NSW, covering 4,360km² across multiple gold and copper projects, reducing exploration risk through diversification.
The initial drilling success at Enmore places Koonenberry Gold at a potential inflection point in its value creation journey. With additional results expected in the coming weeks and months, the company is well-positioned to build on these early successes and further demonstrate the significant gold potential at Enmore.
The high-grade gold results at Koonenberry Gold's Enmore project represent a significant milestone for the company, particularly as they confirm the presence of both broad zones of mineralisation and exceptional high-grade gold zones. These results align with the company's geological model and highlight the potential for further discoveries as the drilling program continues.
Furthermore, the consistent presence of visible gold in multiple drill holes suggests that the high-grade gold results at Koonenberry Gold's Enmore project may extend beyond the initial discovery, potentially indicating a substantial gold system. Investors should monitor upcoming drill results closely, as they could further validate the project's potential to host significant gold mineralisation. Additionally, the company's diamond drilling success at their NSW projects demonstrates their technical capabilities in discovering valuable mineral deposits.
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