Adavale Resources (ASX:ADD) historic BHP data and new structural work sharpen growth lens at London-Victoria

Adavale Resources has combined a newly recovered archive of BHP Gold grade control maps with an independent structural study to deliver the most coherent picture in decades of the London-Victoria system near Parkes, New South Wales.

The findings carry implications for near-term drill targeting and resource growth at a project that already carries a 3.14 million tonne resource at 1.06 grams per tonne gold for 107,000 ounces.

Highlights

• BHP Gold hand-drawn grade control maps scanned and georeferenced, covering thousands of historical drillholes and recording peak grades up to 37.4 grams per tonne gold.

• Independent structural mapping and a 3D model by Ian E. Neilson MSc identify a major east-dipping shear that overprints an earlier anticline and controls mineralisation along a 1.5 kilometre strike.

• Combined datasets indicate potential to grow the existing resource, with repetition of mineralised units interpreted at depth and a southerly plunge increasing scale potential.

• Drilling is scheduled to begin within weeks to test high-priority zones defined by the new work, with pXRF logging and a magnetic survey program in planning.

The historical dataset, compiled in the late 1980s and early 1990s by BHP Gold and later Hargraves Resources, has been scanned and registered over recent aerial imagery, providing dense grade control information from within the mined pit and enabling precise correlation between mineralised zones and structural controls.

This forms a valuable context for a site that produced 145,000 ounces of gold at an average grade of 1.5 grams per tonne between 1988 and 1996, when operations ceased due to weaker prices.

Adavale Resources engaged structural geologist Ian E. Neilson to complete the first modern, independent structural study since the BHP era.

His work highlights a dextral, east-dipping shear zone that overprints an antiformal structure, creating a high-strain corridor with quartz-carbonate-sulphide veining and chlorite-sericite alteration.

Mineralisation is most pronounced where andesitic host rocks are parallel to the shear fabric, notably along the eastern pit wall and in fold hinge positions, with the system plunging to the south where potential lithological repetition could thicken mineralised intervals.

Drill hole MB001, which returned six metres at 3.31 grams per tonne gold from 12 metres, aligns with the interpreted parallel repeat to the east and serves as a practical vector for follow-up work.

The integration of the grade control archive with three-dimensional structural interpretation is intended to prioritise targets that directly test repeated or thickened shoots within the shear corridor, with pXRF-based geochemical logging to refine lithological discrimination in real time.

Planning for ground or airborne magnetics is also advancing in light of a favourable association between magnetic lows and mineralisation.

“Adavale has completed the first modern structural study at London-Victoria since BHP Gold mined there 30 years ago. Together with the recently acquired high-density grade control data, this body of work represents a step change in our understanding of the controls on gold mineralisation. It has identified clear vectors for resource expansion and highlights the strong potential for additional mineralised shoots both at depth and along strike.”

– David Ward, Managing Director of Adavale Resources.

Operationally, the near-term program is framed as a swift and systematic drilling campaign to commence in the coming weeks under recently appointed Managing Director David Ward, who has a track record across the Lachlan Fold Belt.

The plan includes targeted holes to resolve geometry within the shear corridor, continuous refinement of geological and resource models as results are returned, and parallel reconnaissance across the broader Parkes Project to sequence subsequent work.

In conclusion, the reassembly of first-hand production-era grade control data and a modern structural framework moves London-Victoria from a largely historic narrative to a live, model-driven exploration story within a proven district that hosts Cadia and Northparkes.

The immediate test is execution, with drilling outcomes to show whether the interpreted southern plunge and potential repeating sequences translate into additional ounces that build on the current 107,000-ounce inventory.