This drilling is the next step to advance the underground project towards production and will form a key input into the Feasibility Study, which is fully funded and is expected to be completed in the first half of calendar 2016.
Phase II Drilling Progress Report
The Phase II drilling program at Woodlawn has recently commenced with 13 holes having been completed for 4,200m, reflecting on-time and on-budget progress.
The initial part of the Phase II program has been designed to test the shallow mineralised positions that have the potential to provide easily accessible production in the early part of the future underground operation, as well as to perform the in-fill drilling required to upgrade a portion of the 6.5Mt underground Mineral Resource to Indicated status.
The Phase II program has confirmed the predicted up and down plunge extensions to the Kate Lens through the massive sulphide intercepts in WNDD0029, 31 and 32. In particular, the 20.3m intercept in WNDD0031 indicates the excellent potential for expansion of the lens down-plunge in the north-west direction. This area continues to be open for further extension and a follow-up hole WNDD0034 is currently being drilled.
During Phase I drilling the Kate Lens downhole lengths were typically between 370m and 450m. To test for potential deeper extensions to Kate, the Phase II drillhole WNDD0030 has been completed to 700m, and intersected strong alteration. Downhole electromagnetic surveying will now be employed to define vectors to Kate Lens in this position, with a successful outcome having the potential to significantly expand the boundaries of Kate Lens beyond the current Mineral Resource outline.
Away from Kate Lens, a high grade assay result of 33.9% ZnEq1 from 30m downhole over a 3m intersection from the shallow G Lens north position continues to provide a focus for early mine development with encouraging high grade base metals and gold/silver being recorded in a very shallow position. In a similar fashion the narrow intercepts in WNDD0026-27 in the top part of H Lens also have the potential to provide an early production source.
The two holes targeting the Lisa Lens have returned mostly massive pyrite material and confirm the edge of lens position for these two holes. A program of DHEM is planned for the holes and is expected to provide several targets for follow-up, in both the shallow and deeper positions.
Outside the main areas of known mineralisation, the Phase II programme also aims to test a number of more conceptual targets that, if successful, have the ability to significantly change the scope of the proposed mining operations at Woodlawn. One such target is the "southern DHEM anomaly" which sits to the south of C Lens. Hole WNDD0020W1 has been drilled to 709m depth and aims to provide a platform above the interpreted anomaly to allow the target to be refined using DHEM. A zone of moderate to intense sericite/silica/pyrite alteration in volcanic mudstones towards the end of the hole is encouraging and may be associated with a massive sulphide lens at depth.
The Company is extremely pleased with the early progress made with the Phase II drilling and in particular with the step out results achieved with the Kate lens. Further results will be provided as they become available.
