Catalina Resources (ASX:CTN) advances Kirkalocka Gold Project towards RC drilling

Catalina Resources is progressing exploration activities at its 100% owned Kirkalocka Gold Project in Western Australia’s Mid West region, with reconnaissance programs completed across 4 priority gold prospects and an initial ~2,200m RC drilling program planned across the identified targets.

Drilling is targeted to commence following receipt and interpretation of soil assay results, with the Company continuing evaluation of the Highway, Capra, Avis and 2 Mile Bore prospects.

Highlights

Following the recent acquisition of the Kirkalocka Gold Project, Catalina Resources completed geological mapping, prospect reviews and rock chip sampling to assess the prospectivity of the identified targets and identify opportunities for near term drill testing.

The Kirkalocka Gold Project is located within the southern Wydgee Meekatharra Greenstone Belt and includes tenure immediately adjacent to the Kirkalocka Gold Mine, which hosts a published Mineral Resource of approximately 240,000 ounces of gold.

The Project is also located adjacent to the 2.0Mtpa Kirkalocka Gold Processing Plant, which is being advanced towards recommencement by Gylden Resources Limited.

At the Highway prospect, Catalina identified a fold closure interpreted from airborne magnetic data and supported by geological mapping.

An amphibolite unit forms the core of the fold structure, together with minor interbedded banded iron horizons representing the primary target horizon.

Historical drilling confirmed gold mineralisation associated with this amphibolite sequence, including 6m @ 1.38g/t Au from 27m in hole KKA795 and 6m @ 1.79g/t Au from 42m in hole KKA796.

The Capra target is located on the northwestern flank of the Wydgee syncline, where previous soil sampling identified elevated gold values close to a possible offset zone.

Geological mapping and historical soil geochemistry have identified several targets for follow up work, with further close spaced soil sampling underway to better define priority targets ahead of the initial RC drilling program.

At Avis, the prospect is underlain predominantly by high strain amphibolite, basalt agglomerate and felsic volcanic units, with a north south oriented banded iron formation forming the eastern ridge of the prospect area. Historical rock chip sampling by Mount Magnet South NL (ASX: MUM) returned gold results including 9.89g/t Au, 2.59g/t Au, 2.08g/t Au and 1.18g/t Au.

The 2 Mile Bore prospect is largely covered by transported material with limited outcrop exposure and is dominated by the north south trending Cuddingwarra Shear, which separates basaltic and felsic volcanic units from migmatites, granitic and gabbroic rocks to the east.

Historical drilling within the broader target area intersected gold mineralisation associated with amphibolite and basalt units, including 1m @ 4.66g/t Au from 34m and 1m @ 0.64g/t Au from 30m.

Catalina Executive Director Ross Cotton said the Company had progressed the Project from historical review to drill ready targets, stating:

“Our priority has been to rapidly transition the Project from historical review to drill-ready targets, and we have made excellent progress in a short period of time.”

Catalina is integrating soil sampling results with historical drilling, geological mapping and geophysical datasets to finalise drill hole locations.

Soil sampling and heritage assessment are currently underway, with RC drilling expected to commence in the near term following completion of the current programs and receipt of assay results.