LinQ Minerals Limited has launched a major Phase 1 drilling program at the Gidginbung gold deposit, located within the Southern Zone of its flagship Gilmore Gold-Copper Project in New South Wales’ highly endowed Lachlan Fold Belt.
Image Credit: LinQ Minerals Limited
This marks the first drilling at Gidginbung in over two decades and aims to assess untested extensions of known gold and copper mineralization. The program, comprising more than 16,000 meters of combined reverse circulation (RC) and diamond drilling, will initially focus on the Gidginbung and Dam deposits, which together host a combined Mineral Resource Estimate (MRE) of 55 Mt for 1.2 Moz of gold and 120 Kt of copper.
Drilling at Gidginbung will seek to confirm continuity of high-grade zones, test deeper extensions, and obtain material for metallurgical test work. The deposit is a high-sulphidation epithermal gold system with a historical production of approximately 540,000 oz of gold mined via open pits between 1987 and 1996. Its current MRE stands at 21 Mt @ 1.00 g/t Au and 0.07% Cu.
Drilling will subsequently move to the Dam deposit, targeting the core of a porphyry-style gold-copper system, with approximately 2,100 m of drilling planned to follow up on previous high-grade intercepts.
Commenting on the commencement of drilling, LinQ Minerals Executive Chair Clive Donner said:
“We are excited to begin drilling at Gidginbung, one of the key gold deposits in our highly prospective Gilmore Project.
The commencement of drilling is an important step in unlocking the broader scale of this system, particularly at depth and along strike.”
The broader Gilmore Project comprises a 60 km-long mineralized belt across 597 km2 of tenure and hosts a Global Mineral Resource Estimate of 516 Mt containing approximately 3.7 Moz gold and 1.2 Mt copper. The project lies within the Macquarie Arc, home to several major copper-gold deposits including Cadia, Cowal, and Northparkes.
This latest campaign reflects LinQ’s strategy to build a pipeline of advanced copper-gold assets within one of Australia’s premier porphyry provinces.
LinQ Minerals Limited is a mineral exploration company focused on the discovery and delineation of copper and gold deposits within the Macquarie Arc in New South Wales. LinQ is advancing its flagship Gilmore Project, which contains a Global Mineral Resource Estimate of 516 Mt for ~3.7 Moz of gold and ~1.2 Mt of copper. The Gilmore Project includes over 20 known mineralized prospects along a 60 km strike length, with significant potential for both epithermal gold and large-scale porphyry copper-gold systems.