Second phase of drilling unearths new WA phosphate target

March 26, 2012

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DIVERSE metals explorer Phosphate Australia has reported strong results from the second phase of drilling at its Tuckanarra gold project.
The Tuckanarra mine lies within WA’s Murchison goldfield, and has historic production of about 125,000 ounces.
The Phase 2 aircore (AC) drilling program at Tuckanarra comprised 215 holes for a total of 5070m of drilling, primarily targeting shallow laterite mineralisation at the project’s Cable East, Cable West, Drogue, Bollard and Anchor deposits.
Drilling was completed in February, and identified mineralisation in all of the targeted deposit areas.
Drilling at Cable East upgraded the strike length of the deposit to about500m, open at depth, with drilling returning results including 12m at 3.28 grams per tonne gold from 16m to end-of-hole.
The Cable West target returned 28m at 6.7g/t of gold from 25m duringthe Phase 1 drilling program, with follow-up Phase 2 drilling results including 3m at 36.4g/t from 15m to end-of-hole.
Phosphate Australia reported that in the process of drilling it had discovered primary mineralisation at the Drogue East deposit, with assays returning results including 6m at 156g/t from 6m to end-of-hole.
Phase 2 also led to the discovery of a new target area, known as Battery. Phosphate Australia reported that it has planned a third phase of drilling program, scheduled to begin in April, which will include follow-up drilling at Cable West, Cable East, Drogue, and the newly-discovered Battery target.
“The board believes the project has considerable potential for delineating significant shallow high-grade gold mineralisation,” the company said in a statement. “The Phase 2 drilling results have provided further confidence in the Tuckanarra gold project. “Given this early success at Tuckanarra, it is the intention of the company to expeditiously pursue ongoing drilling, resource modelling, metallurgical work, pit optimisation and mine planning.” Phosphate Australia is also pursuing a strategic relationship for its 100 per cent-owned flagship Highland Plains phosphate project in the NT, where it has established a JORC-compliant resource of 53 million tonnes at 16 per cent phosphate.