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Goldman North Stawell Minerals drills 2.3m at 29.2 g/t Au including bonanza 0.8m at 82.3 g/t Au
North Stawell Minerals (ASX:NSM) has confirmed a high-grade gold intercept from diamond drilling at its Darlington Project, located 6km north of Stawell in Victoria, Australia.
The standout result came from drillhole NSD057, which intersected a brecciated, quartz-sulphide vein with multiple occurrences of visible gold (VG), returning:
- 2.3m at 29.2 g/t Au from 108.2m (NSD057), including 0.8m at 82.3 g/t Au from 108.2m (NSD057).
This intercept shows strong geological and structural similarities to the historic Mariners Lodes at Stawell, suggesting a promising deposit-style to explore. Notably, such high-grade gold intercepts and significant visible gold are not common within the Stawell Corridor.
NSD057 is located 70m west of the Darlington Mine trend and sits on a prospective zone open for 850m along strike to the south and 200m to the north. Four additional anomalous zones (<1 g/t Au) were also intersected in the drillhole, including a 6m zone aligned with the plunging Darlington trend and a 16m anomalous zone at the targeted basalt contact.
Further, NSD057 intersected the targeted basalt at 276m depth (120m south of the prior intercept in NSD053), where the sediments-basalt contact is moderately altered and offset by a late fault.
Executive Director Campbell Olsen advised:
The results from NSD057 have not disappointed, returning an exceptional, high-grade gold intercept at very shallow depth – 84m vertical – where visible gold was identified in the drill core (ASX:NSM 19 Mar 25). We now interpret strong parallels – geology, mineralisation, grade and structure – to the historic Mariners Lodes at Stawell, 6km to the south and are focused on how this exciting result fits into our existing understanding of the Stawell Corridor mineralisation. We’ve explored against a Mariners structural model for some time, anticipating structurally-controlled mineralised splays from the deeper basalts into the overlying sediments – but had not anticipated a possible repeat of Mariners high-grade gold tenor.
Importantly, the Stawell Corridor is not characterised by high-grade gold, with all published resources in the corridor having grades <5 g/t Au. The intercept in NSD057, if proven to be part of a larger, coherent mineralised zone, has potential to focus some of the strong interest in high-grade Victorian gold systems to western Victoria. There is precedent – the “original” Mariners Mines above the Stawell Mine include historic production of up to 0.95Moz Au at 30g/t Au (ASX:NSM 15 Apr 25).
We are excited to follow up on this result – the target is open in all directions. Also, the very shallow depth gives the exploration team a range of geophysical, geochemical and drilling techniques to quickly expand understanding and refine the target in a cost effective manner.
