Alta Zinc Ltd (ASX:AZI) has unveiled an updated zinc, lead and silver mineral resource estimate (MRE) for its flagship Gorno Project in northern Italy.
In the second half of this year, the multi-element explorer set out to investigate several underexplored districts within the Gorno Project.
It seems that activity has paid off, with Gorno reported to include 18% more resources in the indicated category, which now makes up almost three-quarters of the project’s total MRE.
What’s more, Gorno’s mineralised footprint remains open in all directions outside the resource envelope, with numerous step-out targets ready to be drill tested from current underground development.
Full details are tabled below:
Working towards de-risked mining plan
Speaking to the resource update, Alta Zinc managing director Geraint Harris said: “I am delighted that the ongoing work and assessment by our geology team has resulted in an updated MRE with 18% more tonnes now in the indicated category and 27% fewer tonnes in the oxide component of the mineralisation.
“This knowledge increase in very specific areas of the mineral resource is a direct result of our ability to get underground and directly map the rocks, allied with leveraging the extensive historical exploration records we have at Gorno.
“Future technical studies will now utilise this updated mineral resource base to produce a further de-risked mining plan.”
Drilling and sampling data
Alta’s revitalised mineral resource covers the Pian Bracca, Ponente and Zorzone properties at Gorno.
To inform the updated MRE, the ASX-lister compiled data across the project’s lifespan.
The data points include:
- 208 historical diamond core holes, covering 19,583.2 metres;
- 1,475 historical percussion holes, covering 32,439.4 metres;
- 169 diamond core holes, drilled at Zorzone between 2015 and 2017;
- 78.9 metres of channel sampling and 96 assays from Pian Bracca, Ponente and Cascine between 2018 and 2021;
- 54 diamond core holes, drilled at Pian Bracca and Pian Bracca South between 2019 and 2021; and
- 31 diamond core holes, drilled at Ponente between February and June 2021.
All in all, there are sufficient data points to model the mineralisation over a strike length of roughly 2,400 metres and a maximum dip direction of 1,900 metres.
