RES
ASX:PGO
YEAR 25
KEYMILESTONES
Pacgold eyes some serious resourcedefining drilling
Havingspent2024buildingoutitsportfoliooftargets,junior gold explorer Pacgold’s (ASX:PGO) focus for this year is on drill testing the multiple high-priority prospects to better understandthepotentialscaleoftheAliceRiverproject
A regional aircore program undertaken at the Alice River GoldProjectinNorthQueenslandrevealedthepotentialfor a “very large bulk tonnage” gold system, with in excess of 12km of high-priority geochemical anomaly targets defined
The Alice River Project has a footprint that extends over 30kminstrike,andsofarPacgoldhasonlydrill-testedless than5%ofthattotaldistance
Theprojectcoversthesiteofapastgoldminingoperation that historically produced 30,000 ounces of gold at 55 grams per tonne, with multiple small artisanal workings located at the project along the Alice River fault structure confirmingthepresenceofalargemineralisedsystem
The Southern target area and Jerry Dodds were also historically mined with very high grades of gold being excavatedatwhatareverylimitedareasofoutcrop
InearlyDecember,Pacgoldcompletedanaircoreprogram of7,185mofdrillingacross749holesalong14kmofstrike.
Not long after reporting the completion of that program, initial results showed Pacgold had uncovered multiple coherent high-grade gold-arsenic anomalies stretching from Posie in the north to Victoria in the south, with the anomalies and mineralisation remaining open at both endsofthesystem
At the Central target, gold mineralisation has been found extending from surface down to 500m depth Drilling previously returned intercepts including 24m @ 8g/t and 149m@103g/t
The Southern target, meanwhile, could be a potential repeat of the Central target, with intercepts of 8m @ 559g/t Thisareahasseenlimitedexplorationtodatewith drill program now being finalised to commence testing these areas and many additional targets along the Alice Riverfaultduringthe2025fieldseason
Unlocking an entire gold corridor
Pacgold is planning to undertake a 10,000m reverse circulationprogram,followuponretestingregionaltargets with an expanded aircore program and start a +3,000m diamonddrillprogram
The diamond drilling program will be key to helping understand the controls on mineralisation and assist the company in gaining a better understanding of the distribution of mineralisation at depth and the structural controls in place at Jerry Dodds, the Southern target and TheShadows
Boyes told Miningcomau late last year that he wants to seeatleast20,000mofdrillinggointoAliceRiverin2025
“Ifwecanachievethatitwouldbeagreatmilestone,Alice River is an asset that will only be understood with a lot of drilling,”Boyessaid
“Togiveyouanideaofscale,theSoutherntargetandJerry Doddsareahaveastrikeextentof4km that’slargerthan the area covered by the Kalgoorlie Super Pit There is a lot ofspaceinthereforacompellingdiscovery”
To ready itself for a busy year of drilling, Pacgold recently appointed Bruce Kendall of Obsidian Geological Consultantsasitsgeologicalconsultant.
With over 30 years’ experience, Kendall has been managingmineralexplorationfromgrassrootsthroughto advanced brownfields projects, near-mine exploration, resourcedefinitionandfeasibilitystudies.
He has also held corporate management roles with companies such as AngloGold Ashanti (NYSE:AU), Chalice Mining(ASX:CHN),IGO(ASX:IGO),andJabiruMetals
“GiventheresultswehavereceivedfromAliceRiver,weare confidentthatwecontrolasubstantialmineralisedsystem and Bruce’s knowledge will be invaluable as he assists our team as we progress over 2025 to unlock the value of this project,”Boyessays
“To give you an idea of scale, the Southern target and Jerry Dodds area have a strike extent of 4km that’s larger than the area covered by the Kalgoorlie Super Pit. There is a lot of space in there for a compelling discovery
The aim of the aggressive drilling campaign will be to define a mineral resource estimate for the Central, Northern and Southern targets, while at the same time progressingthehighlyprospectiveregionaltargets
Alice River comprises eight mining leases and five explorationpermits,spanninganareaof377km2
Prior to Pacgold’s acquisition of the Alice River Project in December 2020, there was little modern exploration undertaken
“Large tonnage intrusive related gold systems like Alice River can become tier-one assets, and there has been limitedexplorationinthispartoftheworld,”Boyessays
“The Palmer River alluvial gold field produced millions of ounces of gold and nobody has found the source to date so that demonstrates the area is well endowed with gold mineralisation”
Palmer River was the largest producing alluvial goldfield in Australia and is credited with being largely responsible for the growth of places like Cooktown, Port Douglas, and Cairns
The region is home to several gold operations like the 1,883km2 Pajingo Gold Mine, which was discovered by Battle Mountain Gold Company in 1983 and has produced morethan3.4millionouncessince1996.
Now owned by Yuxin Holdings, Pajingo currently produces around80,000ouncesofgoldperannum.
Alsointheregionisthe10-million-ounceRavenswoodGold Operation, which includes the 1-million-ounce Mt Wright undergroundmine
Alice River represents a potential new district-scale gold province in northern Queensland, with Pacgold the first explorerintwodecadestodrilltheground
Pacgoldexpectstorolloutconsistentnewsflowin2025as itrampsupexplorationattheproject
“Large tonnage intrusive related gold systems like Alice River can become tier-one assets, and there has been limited exploration in this part of the world.
MatthewBoyes MANAGINGDIRECTOR
