Venus Metals begins drilling to expand Bellchambers gold resource

Venus Metals has begun a reverse-circulation drilling program at its Bellchambers gold project 23 kilometres southwest of Sandstone in Western Australia. The five-hole campaign will test an exploration target immediately beneath and north of the current deposit.

The existing resource totals 766,000 tonnes grading 1.27 grams per tonne gold, containing 31,400 ounces. An independently estimated exploration target beneath the deposit contains between 800,000 and 950,000 tonnes grading 1.75 to 2.00 grams per tonne, for a potential 45,000 to 60,000 ounces.

Project background The Bellchambers deposit and adjoining Rangeview prospect form part of the company’s 90 per cent-owned project. A mining lease has already been granted, and metallurgical tests have shown gold recoveries of 90 to 99 per cent using conventional gravity separation and leaching.

The project lies 70 kilometres by road from Rox Resources’ planned Youanmi gold operation, which could allow future toll treatment or sale arrangements.

Next steps Phase one drilling is spaced on 50-metre sections and follows hyperspectral work completed with the CSIRO that identified new mineral signatures associated with gold. Results will determine whether the upper end of the exploration target can be converted into an inferred mineral resource.