‘Golden Iris’ visible in drilling breakthrough

A NEW high-grade zone has shown eight visible gold samples across what could be a continuous zone of mineralisation near Mitiamo.

Catalyst Metals says Iris Zone presents the “first clear proof of concept that Four Eagles contains the same structural style as the 22-million-ounce Bendigo Goldfield, where high-grade mineralised zones repeat at depth”.

“Iris adds to the number of high-grade zones close to the proposed exploration tunnel, potentially changing project economics,” Catalyst told the Australian Stock Exchange last week.

Chief executive officer John McKinstry told the Loddon Herald this week that local drilling was about to end for the season.

Mr McKinstry said the company had responded to queries from the State Government regulators on its application to construct a $20 million exploration tunnel as part of the Four Eagles project.

“We are limited in how far we can explore from the surface,” he said.

Catalyst technical director Bruce Kay said the new visible samples were “a pivotal breakthrough in our hunt for the extension of the Bendigo Goldfield”.

Drilling returned multiple occurrences of visible gold in eight diamond drill cores from the Boyd’s Dam prospect.

“We have always suspected that there would be stacked gold zones below the shallow Boyd’s Dam mineralisation but previous drilling has not been done with the optimal orientation.

“The Iris Zone appears to be very consistent and visible gold is always exciting. Catalyst has identified a number of highgrade areas of mineralisation within close proximity to one another - Boyd’s Dam, Hayanmi, Pickles, Cunneens, Eagle 5, Bullock and Iris Zone. These areas of stacked, repetitive mineralisation have the potential to change the project’s economics and could

In Brief

Listed for sale

BRIDGEWATER Post Office has been put on the market. Owned by a local consortium, its sale was first flagged last year. The business was advertised in regional media at the weekend and is the fourth Loddon post office agency to hit the market in three years. Inglewood and Tarnagulla post offices were sold last year and there has been strong interest in the Newbridge agency part of the town’s store that is listed for sale.

Donut week

LODDON has recorded its first COVID donut week since early September. No new cases were reported in local communities last week and there were no active cases. There were 2941 COVID-19 cases reported in Victoria for the week.

Computer books

SENIORS needing help to navigate the ever-changing digital world will soon be able to access free training through their local library under a State Government initiative. Minister for Local Government Melissa Horne has announced the $2 million Digital Literacy for Seniors Program, supporting public libraries to conduct hands-on digital training programs for Victorian seniors in 2023.

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eventually all be mined from the one access tunnel.”

Catalyst said the newly-discovered Iris Zone was on a steep western shear zone and seemed to mostly occupy the western limb of the Boyd’s Dam anticline.

“Drilling results continue to show that Four Eagles is a strong- ly mineralised area and further drilling is likely to define new gold bearing structures,” the company said.

Catalyst said discovery of the Iris Zone provided a significant, highly sought-after element to the prospectivity of the Whitelaw Gold Belt north of Bendigo.

Nation’s roots are firmly planted

LODDON Shire’s Citizen of the Year Howard Rochester has planted a special tree at Inglewood’s Botanical Gardens.

He was joined by family members to plant the Ned Kelly grevillia presented to him by Mayor Dan Straub on Australia Day.

Mr Rochester has previously planted new trees at the gardens.

He said he wanted to share the award tree for future generations of Loddon residents and the gardens were a logical location.

The Ned Kelly has the scientific name Grevillea banksii bipinnatifida .

It is a medium dense evergreen native shrub with green fern-like foliage and large bright brush-like orange-red flowers that show all year round. The species is said to be great native bird and bee attractor.

NEIGHBOURS of Morgan and Flynn Lonza have helped populate their frontyard book exchange with new titles after last month’s story in the Loddon Herald. Mother Simone said the family had been amazed with the response of Inglewood residents dropping off books for the Tarnagulla Road exchange.

Farmer survey

NATIONAL Farmers’ Federation has commissioned the first-ever National Farmer Wellbeing Survey that aims to better understand some of the key issues facing Australian farmers, particularly after recent natural disasters, and compare and contrast perspectives and experiences across sectors, regions, and demographics.