Zenith Minerals Advances Queensland Gold Project with Deep Drilling Success
Zenith Minerals has achieved a significant milestone at its Red Mountain gold project in Queensland, with deep diamond drilling now extending gold mineralisation beyond 700 metres vertical depth. This development reinforces the continuity of a broad breccia-hosted intrusion-related gold system (IRGS) at depth, marking a major step in proving the project's true scale.
Record-Breaking Drill Results Unveil High-Grade Potential
The company's two most recent diamond tails represent the deepest holes drilled at Red Mountain to date, extending the mineralised corridor by an additional 350 metres below previous drilling. One hole, concluding at 731 metres downhole depth, returned a best intercept of 333 metres grading 0.27 grams per tonne gold from 388 metres. This intersection included narrow high-grade veins, such as 2 metres at 6.55g/t gold and 2.2 metres at 4.16g/t gold.
A second diamond hole, drilled as a re-entry tail from a previous reverse-circulation (RC) hole, reached 758 metres depth. It delivered 167 metres assaying 0.29g/t gold from 176 metres, featuring 4 metres grading 1.36g/t gold and 1.1 metres at 3.85g/t gold. The intersection concluded with a separate 113.73-metre section grading 0.31g/t gold from 476 metres, including 1.48 metres at 5.01g/t gold.
Strategic Insights and Future Drilling Plans
These long intercepts support Zenith's perspective that Red Mountain is evolving into a large intrusion-related gold system, with the mineralised breccia corridor remaining open along strike and at depth to the northwest, west, and southeast. Zenith Minerals managing director Andrew Smith commented, "ZRMCD073 and ZRMCD067 have confirmed the impressive scale and continuity of the Red Mountain IRG system, now defined to over 700 metres vertically. Combined with our newly built 3D geochemical model, these results significantly improve our understanding of the rhyolite feeder and sills geometry and are directly guiding us toward the higher-grade core of the system."
The fresh deep diamond results have added down-dip extension data to earlier RC drill assays reported in December. Previously, a 7-metre section from a re-entered hole assayed 0.99g/t gold from 177 metres within a broader 34-metre stretch grading 0.39g/t gold from 176 metres to the end of the hole. This intercept was the strongest breccia-hosted gold run above the rhyolite zone, now validated by deeper drilling that pushes the system well beyond prior limits.
By exceeding 700 metres vertical depth, the drilling has significantly extended the system's vertical extent while enhancing Zenith's understanding of the intrusive rhyolite feeder and sill geometry. Earlier RC programs indicated that gold grades strengthened westward in parts of the breccia and rhyolite contact zone, guiding the follow-up diamond drilling strategy.
Enhanced Targeting with 3D Geochemical Modelling
Zenith has bolstered its targeting confidence through new 3D geochemical modelling, which revealed metal zonation across the system. The modelling showed zinc, cadmium, and lead dominating the western side, shifting to a copper, bismuth, and tellurium signature along the southeastern margin closer to the intrusion. Although drilling has been limited, Zenith believes the best opportunity for finding high-grade gold lies in this marginal area, presenting a new target for upcoming drilling.
The company is now planning an additional 3000-metre RC drilling program to test lateral extensions of the breccia system, the newly defined geochemical target corridor, and two priority induced polarisation (IP) anomalies that coincide with low magnetic and resistivity signatures. If this next round of drilling can pinpoint the higher-grade core, Red Mountain could transition from a compelling geological story to a genuine growth asset for Zenith.
For now, Zenith has demonstrated that the system has substantial potential, remaining open at depth and along strike, and is preparing further exploration to uncover its best parts.
