Microsoft Word - 20151203 ORN ASX Drill Update QLD v6 clean.docx
ASX Announcement / Media Release
3 December 2015
ASX Code: ORN Issued Capital:
Ordinary Shares: 355M Options: 91M
Directors: Denis Waddell
Chairman
Errol Smart
Managing Director, CEO
Bill Oliver
Technical Director
Alexander Haller
Non-Executive Director
Management: Kim Hogg
Company Secretary
Martin Bouwmeester
Business Development Manager
Suite 2
64 Thomas Street West Perth WA 6005 ABN 76 098 939 274
T: +61 8 9485 2685
E: [email protected]
Drilling Confirms New Epithermal System at Chough Prospect - Connors Arc Project, Central Queensland
Substantial alteration system intersected in latest drilling, confirming the discovery of a potentially significant new zone
Highlights:
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Drilling at the newly identified Chough prospect has intersected a substantial alteration zone associated with epithermal breccia bodies with abundant sulphide mineralisation.
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Pervasive silicic epithermal breccias and clay alteration together with abundant fine grained pyrite and arsenopyrite have been intersected.
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The holes at Chough have been sited to test below coincident gold-arsenic anomalies in soil and rock-chip sampling.
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Drilling continues with the objective of identifying preferential host lithologies and establishing the geometry of the mineralised bodies.
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Drilling will shortly move to the Aurora Flats prospect.
Orion Gold NL (ASX: ORN) is pleased to advise that ongoing diamond drilling at its 100%-owned Connors Arc Epithermal Gold-Silver Project in central Queensland has intersected highly encouraging structures at the newly identified Chough Prospect, confirming the presence of a potentially significant new epithermal system.
Drilling has targeted a number of features identified in mapping and surface sampling at the Chough Prospect including epithermal breccia units with sulphides (Figure 1), low temperature chalcedonic breccia pipes or blows with moss textures in the quartz matrix and epithermal veins.
Although rock-chip and soil sampling have returned significant gold-arsenic anomalism from these features, poor outcrop makes meaningful interpretation problematic. Initial drilling has therefore focused on establishing structural orientations and distribution, or potential concentrations of mineralisation within the broader envelope.
Drilling has intersected interlayered andesite and pervasively altered rhyolite with several breccia units and strong clay alteration of feldspars with significant sulphides present.
Sulphides occur in discrete bands and accumulations both as clots of large pyrite grains and also clusters/clouds of dark, fine-grained sulphides identified in hand specimen as pyrite and arsenopyrite (Figures 1 and 2).
W: www.oriongold.com.au
Large sulphide clots within silica-sulphide matrix
Figure 1: Freshly broken surface sample from Chough Prospect showing a brecciated felsic volcanic in a silica-sulphide matrix. Inset shows large clots of massive sulphide in a silica-sulphide breccia matrix (pyrite and arsenopyrite). Distinctive red iron oxides and yellow jarosite on weathered surface.
Encouragingly very strong quartz-sericite (illite) alteration is noted over wide intervals. This is characteristic of the upper levels of very large epithermal systems and is similar to the alteration observed in the volcanic units above the Vera-Nancy deposit at Pajingo (Evolution Mining Ltd ASX:EVN).
A total of 4 holes for 734.3 metres have been completed to date at the Chough Prospect with drilling still in progress (Figures 3 and 4). All holes to date have intersected the interlayered rhyolite and andesite package including zones of alteration and epithermal veining/brecciation, with substantial sulphides as shown in Figures 1 and 2.
Drilling has focused on the western part of the prospect where the majority of the anomalous assays were returned in rock-chip and soil sampling (Refer Figure 3, Appendices 1 and 2, ASX Release 22 September 2015).
Massive sulphide veinlet (pyrite-arsenopyrite)
Figure 2: Sample from CHRCD002 at depth of 117 metres. Note sulphide veinlet on contact of epithermal vein / breccia unit.
Figure 3: Plan showing location of drillholes at Chough over gridded gold in soil geochemical data. Also shown are mapped epithermal vein outcrops and results from rockchip sampling.
Sampling is underway with assay results for gold and silver anticipated in 2-3 weeks. Detailed geochemical and VNIR-SWIR data will also be collected from the drill-hole samples to enable the epithermal system at Chough to be modelled and compared with the other systems being tested at Veinglorious and Aurora Flats.
Recent traverses in the Chough area have identified large areas of low-temperature silica alteration to the west of the prospect, as well as a large area of clay alteration to the north- east. This suggests that Chough is part of a much larger system (similar to Aurora Flats and Veinglorious).
Detailed mapping of these zones is being carried out in parallel with drilling activities and is ongoing.
V352
0.48g/t Au 1,210ppm As
Figure 4: Section showing drilling at the Chough Prospect (refer Figure 3 for location).
NB: Fv = felsic volcanic (rhyolite), Iva = Andesite
Errol Smart
Managing Director and CEO
Company Enquiries:
Errol Smart - Managing Director and CEO Denis Waddell - Chairman
T: +61 8 9485 2685
E: [email protected]