Kula hits new WA gold lode at high-grade Mt Palmer mine

Kula Gold has unearthed a new shallow lode at its recently-acquired historic Mt Palmer gold mine in Western Australia’s Eastern Goldfields, with a maiden drilling campaign delivering a 4m intercept grading 3.02 grams per tonne gold from just 18m.

The company’s latest suite of results released today also show that the hit includes a rich 1m interval at an impressive 6.66g/t gold.

Management noted that the newly-identified gold lode aligns with historic drilling at Mt Palmer, including one hole that struck a 7m intercept at 3g/t. A 1m section at an eye-catching 10.6g/t gold was also recorded in the same hole.

Known as the Bryant Lode, the new mineralised area lies 500m south of the main workings at the project and appears to demonstrate a contiguous zone of shallow gold mineralisation open to the north and south.

According to Kula, the results from its three-hole reverse-circulation (RC) campaign suggest that further drilling is warranted at Mt Palmer in efforts to define a resource estimate at the project. Between 1934 and 1944, the mine produced more than 150,000 ounces of gold at a cracking grade of 15.9g/t.

This is a great start in our maiden drilling program at Mt Palmer. This historically-rich ‘half-ounce’ gold mine is now ready for the next stage of the drilling program, with diamond drilling planned in the coming weeks to test below the rich production stopped by the WW2 exodus of miners in 1944 … and it never reopened.

Dawson noted that Kula’s successful drilling follows meticulous evaluation of all historical data at Mt Palmer and points to the potential for high-grade gold mineralisation to be lurking below past mining levels that reached 160m depth.

The company is also continuing to assess other prospects along 10km of greenstone belt that hosts the project. Curiously, the historical mine lies in proximity to the 2.4 million-ounce Marvel Loch gold mine and the 600,000-ounce Nevoria gold mine.

In May, Kula acquired a 51 per cent stake in Mt Palmer from its joint venture (JV) partner in the project, Aurumin. It can earn a further 29 per cent of the operation by spending $1 million in exploration expenditure within three years.

Aurumin made the deal so it could level more focus on its flagship Sandstone gold project in WA’s Mid West region where it recently recorded a bonanza-grade gold hit of 1m going 344 grams per tonne from 43m.

In any case, Kula is off to a flying start at Mt Palmer with first-pass drilling unveiling a new mineralised lode at a project already known for hosting an abundance of high-grade gold. The future could be bright for the Perth-based explorer if further drill-testing at the historic gold mine continues to deliver the goods.

Is your ASX-listed company doing something interesting? Contact: matt.birney@wanews.com.au