A bulk sample blast site showing mineralised fractures.
Silver Mines Ltd (ASX:SVL, OTC:SLVMF) has fielded encouraging assays from the Bowdens Silver Project, 26 kilometres east of Mudgee in Central New South Wales, and is concurrently working on project development activities.
The first drill and blast works have been conducted at Bowdens to collect bulk samples for ongoing optimisation work and ore-sorting trials. Blast hole drilling has now wrapped up.
Higher than estimated
A total of 108 samples were collected with 65 – or some 60% of samples – grading above estimated block grades. The entire zone averaged 171 g/t silver equivalent (AgEq), which is 43% higher than the estimated block grade of 120 g/t AgEq.
Four bulk samples weighing in at a collective 21 tonnes were taken from three sites for optimisation and mine development studies.
Two sites were drilled and then blasted, while one site in Main Zone was rock hammered.
The blast hole drilling was part of a NSW Resources Regulator-approved exploration program.
Representative samples were extracted from both high and low-grade mineral resource estimate blocks in the south of Main Zone.
Material from a bulk sample site with grey fracture/breccia fill minerals of silver sulphides such as acanthite (Ag2S), galena (PbS) and sphalerite (ZnS).
Assays from blast hole samples highlight potential conservatism within the MRE, with high-grade results averaging 43% higher than block model grades.
One metre assays of blast holes included:
- 671 g/t AgEq, including 649 g/t silver, 0.02% zinc and 0.64% lead;
- 549 g/t AgEq including 516 g/t silver, 0.44% zinc and 0.33% lead;
- 521 g/t AgEq including 444 g/t silver, 1.05% zinc and 0.75% lead; and
- 479 g/t AgEq including 355 g/t silver, 1.39% zinc and 1.64% lead.
These results portend well for what the company believes is ‘significant upside’ at Bowdens.
Bulk sample program
Bulk samples were planned from where high and low-grade material was estimated and exposed at surface.
Over at the eastern sample sites, 67 blast holes were drilled and sampled at one-metre intervals.
The drilling was completed on a grid of six-by-six holes, spaced 2 metres apart and drilled to a depth of 3 metres each.
The works then involved blasting of a part of each drill pattern. The company has received laboratory assays of the samples and the results are ‘highly encouraging’.
In the high-grade zone, average assay results for one-metre blast hole samples are significantly higher than estimated block grades.
Bowdens Silver is the largest undeveloped silver deposit in Australia with substantial resources and a considerable body of high-quality technical work already completed. The project boasts outstanding logistics for future mine development.