Geopacific Resources has reported high-grade near-surface gold has been intersected at the company’s Wayai Creek, part of the Woodlark gold project in Papua New Guinea.
The results are said to further define a coherent zone of shallow, high-grade mineralisation and improves confidence in the project’s existing mineral resource.
Woodlark boasts a resource estimate of 1.67 million ounces.
Drilling results include 17m at 5.29 grams per tonne (g/t) of gold from 36m and 9m at 1.62 g/t of gold from 56m, 5m at 4.15 g/t gold from 122m and 5m at 3.94 g/t from 30m.
Additional drilling is understood to commence at Wayai Creek to test a southern extension of mineralisation to help further improve confidence in the site’s existing resource model.
“These results continue to improve our geological understanding of the prospective areas, and deliver high-grade intercepts that support the significant exploration and growth potential that remains at Woodlark,” Geopacific chief executive officer James Fox said.
“We have a clear pipeline of near-mine and regional exploration work to progress, with much of the drilling focused close to existing resources and planned infrastructure. This includes testing for potential extensions to known mineralisation under shallow cover, where there has been little recent exploration focus.
Importantly, this work is being progressed in parallel with finalisation of the Woodlark definitive feasibility study,” Fox said. It’s understood the study remains on track for 2026.
A drilling program at the second-largest known gold deposit in Woodlark, Busai, is also underway to test extensions of the mine’s western lode.
Busai hosts a mineral resource of 20.3 million tonnes at 1 g/t for gold for 655,000 ounces.
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