Advance Metals Limited has discovered a new shallow, high-grade gold structure immediately east of its Happy Valley Deposit at the Myrtleford Project in Victoria’s highly prospective goldfields, intersecting coarse visible gold less than 50 meters below surface.
The discovery was made in step-out diamond drill hole AMD016, which intersected a previously unrecognized quartz vein structure approximately 100 meters east of the historic Happy Valley workings. Assay results for the upper portion of the hole have confirmed the high-grade nature of the mineralization, returning 0.6 meters at 66.7 grams per ton gold from 51.3 meters, representing the shallowest gold mineralization intersected at Happy Valley to date.
Geological logging of AMD016 identified multiple patches of coarse visible gold, with grains observed up to 4 millimeters in size. Structural measurements indicate the new zone trends nearly north–south, suggesting it may run parallel to the narrow but high-grade Porpunkah Reef, which was previously mined during historic operations in the mid to late 1800s.
The newly identified mineralization does not appear to be associated with any previously mapped Happy Valley lodes, highlighting the potential for additional high-grade structures within the broader system.
Advance Metals’ technical team is currently evaluating the extent and orientation of the new structure. Drilling is continuing from a newly established pad further north, designed to test both the newly discovered structure at depth and the main Happy Valley lodes. A second diamond rig continues to operate along strike, testing new regional targets at the Queen of the Hills and Sheards prospects, with assay results pending.
Assay results for the remainder of hole AMD016, which tested the main Happy Valley lodes at depth, are expected in the coming weeks. Final results have also been received for nearby hole AMD015A, which returned 0.8 meters at 1.2 grams per ton gold.
The Happy Valley prospect forms part of Advance Metals’ broader Myrtleford Project, where recent drilling has already confirmed the extension of high-grade mineralization at depth, reinforcing the project’s potential for both near-surface and deeper gold discoveries.