Moho Resources Expands Bush Chook Project with High-Grade Gold-Antimony Acquisition
Moho Resources (ASX:MOH) is set to ramp up its exploration efforts at its flagship Bush Chook gold project in Western Australia’s renowned Pilbara region. The company has significantly bolstered its prospective ground with the acquisition of a new tenement that boasts a high-grade historical gold and antimony mine, a move that comes just ahead of a substantial 5,000-metre drilling campaign planned for May.
This newly acquired landholding is generating considerable excitement due to its geological similarities to the nearby Blue Spec deposit. This significant deposit, owned by AIM Mining and backed by the notable Mark Creasy, is estimated to contain 250,000 ounces of gold at an impressive grade of 24.4 grams per tonne (g/t), alongside 3,800 tonnes of antimony at a grade of 1.6%. The parallels drawn between the new tenement and Blue Spec suggest a compelling exploration opportunity for Moho.
The acquired ground encompasses three key target areas: Rocky Ridge, the Northern Target, and the Eastern Target. Each presents a unique prospect for uncovering valuable mineralisation.
Rocky Ridge: A Promising Historical Mine
The Rocky Ridge prospect is particularly noteworthy, featuring an historical mine that was active in the early 1900s. During its operational period, this mine yielded close to 1,000 ounces of gold at an exceptional average grade of 85 g/t. Crucially, mining activities at Rocky Ridge only extended to a depth of approximately 40 metres, leaving considerable potential for deeper mineralisation.
Further underscoring the prospect’s promise, underground channel sampling conducted in the 1980s during the development of a new exploration drive returned highly encouraging results. These included:
- Significant Gold Intercepts:
- 8 metres grading 28.5 g/t gold from a depth of 52 metres.
- Within this broader intercept, several richer zones were identified, including 0.4 metres at 101 g/t gold and 0.3 metres at 65 g/t gold.
- Antimony Presence:
- 1.3 metres grading 0.42% antimony from a depth of 72 metres.
Subsequent exploration efforts have continued to highlight Rocky Ridge’s potential. In 2004, Reverse Circulation (RC) drilling targeting an extension of the south-east-dipping gold reefs intersected an 8-metre interval grading 2.52 g/t gold from 32 metres. Another standout result from later RC drilling was an 8-metre strike grading 3.67 g/t gold from 20 metres.
Moho Resources Chairman, Peter Christie, expressed his enthusiasm for the acquisition, stating, “Our new acreage is highlighted by the exciting Rocky Ridge prospect, which hosts an historic high-grade mine that produced close to 1000 ounces at an average grade of 85g/t. There are several drill ready targets which are geologically comparable to AIM Mining’s nearby Blue Spec gold-antimony deposit.”
Unexplored Potential at Northern and Eastern Targets
Beyond Rocky Ridge, the Northern Target and Eastern Target represent areas with significant, yet undrilled, potential. The Northern Target spans 130 metres of strike length and has been defined by high-grade rock chip samples returning assays as high as 8.81 g/t gold. At the Eastern Target, sampling from small, historical prospector pits has yielded impressive grades, with some results reaching up to 57.2 g/t gold. Neither of these targets has been subjected to any previous drilling, presenting a clean slate for exploration.
The acquisition of this new tenement involved a cash payment of $30,000 and the issuance of 4,285,714 Moho shares to the vendor, demonstrating the company’s commitment to advancing its exploration strategy.
Blue Spec Parallels and Geological Similarities
The geological interpretation of the mineralisation at Rocky Ridge draws strong parallels with the Blue Spec deposit. Management believes the north-dipping, high-grade gold-antimony shear zone at Rocky Ridge possesses a true thickness of approximately 2 metres and, significantly, remains open both down-dip and along strike. This characteristic of narrow, high-grade mineralisation, coupled with the gold-antimony association, is considered akin to the geological setting of Blue Spec.
The Blue Spec deposit itself is characterised by distinct mineralised domains, ranging in thickness from 0.5 to 4 metres, and extending along 350 metres of strike. It has been explored to depths of at least 885 metres below the surface. Moho’s upcoming RC drilling campaign at Rocky Ridge is strategically designed to test this shear zone along 200 metres of strike and to a depth of 100 metres below the deepest historical mineralisation, aiming to unlock this untapped potential.
Upcoming Drill Blitz at Bush Chook
The highly anticipated 5,000-metre drilling program at the Bush Chook project is slated to commence in May. This extensive campaign will not only focus on the newly acquired Rocky Ridge prospect but will also systematically test a range of other previously defined targets within the project area. These targets have been creatively named after popular Western Australian beers, adding a unique local flavour to the exploration efforts.
Key prospects to be included in the drilling blitz are:
- Gage Road: Gold mineralisation has already been identified across two trenches spanning 115 metres, with notable results including 9 metres at 1.85 g/t gold and 9 metres at 0.94 g/t gold.
- CBco Prospect: A significant mineralised area of 450 metres has been delineated through trenching and rock chip sampling, making it a prime target for drilling.
- Little Creature Prospect: This prospect lies within a 650-metre trend characterised by historical gold chips grading as high as 5.6 g/t gold.
- Single Fin Prospect and Southern Swan Prospect: Drilling will also extend to the Single Fin prospect and the southern area of the Swan prospect, where a substantial 1.4-kilometre-long gold-in-soil anomaly has been previously identified.
Strategic Location and Broader Exploration Strategy
The Bush Chook project is strategically located within the Mosquito Creek Basin, a highly prospective gold province that has historically contributed approximately 2.5 million ounces (Moz) to past production and existing resources. Furthermore, the project benefits from its proximity to the 1.8 million tonnes per annum (Mtpa) Golden Eagle processing plant, situated within 40 kilometres. This proximity offers significant logistical advantages should commercial quantities of gold be discovered.
Moho Resources is maintaining a proactive approach to exploration across its extensive 442 square kilometre (km²) tenure within this prolific geological domain. In a move to identify new targets, the company recently initiated a 4,000-sample soil sampling campaign. A second field crew is currently being mobilised to the site to accelerate these target definition works, underscoring the company’s commitment to a comprehensive and aggressive exploration strategy.
