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- Frontier Resources (FNT) has identified surface leaching of gold in trench SD11 within its Saki Gold Prospect
- SD11 was one of four target areas that Frontier collected trench samples from to define additional gold
- The best gold assay was 0.82 grams per tonne of gold over 0.5 metres in trench SD09
- This sampling has provided significant expansion potential for the Saki gold system
- Frontier will follow this up with further mapping, sampling and trenching
- Frontier’s shares have dropped 10 per cent, trading for 0.9 cents each
Frontier Resources (FNT) has received and reviewed trench sampling results from a recently completed fieldwork sampling and mapping program at the Saki Gold Prospect.
Saki is part of the Tolukuma Project, which is located in Papua New Guinea, 70 kilometres north of the capital, Port Moresby.
The work aimed to define additional gold targets from inferred veins located to the west of the main Saki fissure system. These inferred veins were thought to represent possible northwest‐trending splays extending from the main north-northwest trending system of gold veins Saki I to V.
A total of four hand trenches were excavated and 117 samples were collected.
The trenches uncovered highly weathered and oxidised hydrothermally altered pyroclastics with quartz veining within north-northwest‐trending zones of strong quartz‐clay‐silica‐oxide‐(sulphide) alteration.
In one of these trenches, SD11, anomalous gold pathfinder element arsenic values were found. These arsenic values are consistent with those identified from rock chip samples last month. Frontier believes these may indicate there’s leaching of gold in the oxidised zone.
As a result of this leaching, gold assay results were fairly low reflecting the intensely weathered and leached nature of rock exposures at higher elevations in the area.
In trench SD09, the best gold assay was 0.82g/t gold over 0.5 metres from a puggy oxidised clay sulphide zone. This trench exposes a 2.0 metre wide north-northwest‐trending structural zone of strong quartz‐clay‐silica alteration.
Trench SD08 resulted in minor, shallow occurrences of altered and mineralised rock float and scree.
The mineralised float and scree resembles vein material associated with intense silica‐clay alteration. There are some anomalous gold pathfinder element barium results, including up to 299 parts per million.
Trench SD10 exposed massive pyroclastics characterised by green‐grey chlorite‐smectite alteration overprinted by a quartz‐clay‐Feoxide‐manganese‐pyrite‐marcasite‐arsenopyrite assemblage, with local quartz‐puggy clay zones.
The zone of veining and alteration observed in SD10 is believed to be the northwest continuation of SD09’s zone. Unfortunately, no significant assay results were obtained from this trench. The highest gold result was 0.011g/t gold.
Overall, mapping has demonstrated the prospective nature of the Saki West area.
Based on the findings, follow‐up work will be conducted at the four areas. Work will include hand pitting and trenching of soil anomalies along the Frontier interpreted veins, detailed mapping and sampling in Geseva Creek, follow up mapping and sampling at the 3.32g/t gold anomaly west of Saki Camp.
The company will also undertake further mapping, rock chip sampling, trenching, and possibly soil sampling in the high arsenic to the northwest within the defined gold target.
Frontier’s shares have dropped 10 per cent, trading for 0.9 cents each at 10:26 am AEST.
