East Star Resources PLC (LSE:EST) said it completed a three-and-a-half-month diamond drilling programme on its two Chu-Ili gold belt licences in Kazakhstan and that a visual inspection of the core shows promising signs of potentially gold-bearing mineralisation across all targets.
It conducted about 4,947 metres (m) of diamond core drilling comprising: 17 boreholes, totalling 3,088m, on the Novoe, Southern Shabdar and Eshkilitau II targets on the Apmintas licence; and 19 boreholes totalling 1,860m on the Alatagyl target on the Dalny licence.
"We are pleased with the pace and quality of the drill programme and encouraged by visual indicators in core samples,” said chief executive Alex Walker.
The drilling programme was designed to test mineralisation along strike and down dip from previous intersections from both East Star's reverse circulation drilling programme in 2021 and historical drilling at Southern Shabdar and Alatagyl.
“By doing oriented diamond core drilling, our team can get a strong understanding of the geometry of the structures controlling the mineralisation,” said Walker. “This will form the basis for the design of future work programmes and assist with targeting additional areas on the huge and prospective Apmintas licence.”
“Shallow recordings of sulphides on the Alatagyl target also demonstrate a good indication of potentially gold-bearing mineralisation,” he added.
The core is being logged, cut and weighed and some are undergoing density measurements and X-ray fluorescence (XRF) analysis before being sent for assay preparation at the laboratory and then for assay, said the gold, rare earths and copper exploration company.
The London-listed company plans to release assay results on a target-by-target basis due to the variable lab turnaround times in Kazakhstan.