Walkabout Resources hits high-grade zinc-lead in maiden scout drilling at Scottish Project – Proactive Investors
Walkabout Resources Ltd (ASX:WKT) has intersected high-grade zinc-lead mineralisation in its maiden scout drilling program at the Blackcraig Lead-Zinc-Silver Project in southwest Scotland.
Notably, the mineralisation was observed beneath the historic lead-zinc mines at Blackcraig, commonly occurring as high-grade stringers, blebs and disseminated mineralisation within a quartz-carbonate vein breccia.
Standout assays include:
- 12.4% zinc and 3.7 g/t silver over 0.8 metres from 56.2 metres downhole; and
- 1.3% lead and 0.19% zinc over 4.71 metres from 91 metres down hole, including 4.9% lead and 0.40% zinc over 1.02 metres from 94.69 metres
Blackcraig forms part of a trend of historic workings that mined lead, zinc and silver over some 4.5 kilometres and which potentially extends further along strike to the historic Pibble lead-zinc-copper-silver mining area, some 5 kilometres to the southeast.
Moving forward, the assay results support the high-grade nature of the prospects in the area and warrant further interpretation and exploration follow-up.
“High-grade mineralised region”
Walkabout Resources CEO Andrew Cunningham said: “The completion of our maiden scout drilling program over the Blackcraig prospect marks the first exploration drilling program in the region since the discovery of the mineralisation more than 250 years ago.
“As expected, the results confirm the continuation of high-grade mineralisation beneath the old underground mine workings and are invaluable to our understanding of the controls and type of mineralisation in the area.
“The company’s large footprint in what is seen as an unexplored and potentially high-grade mineralised region further supports the need for a modern, systematic and well-planned approach to mineral exploration in Scotland and more broadly, the security of supply of critical metals in the United Kingdom.”
Maiden drill program
Walkabout’s maiden drill program comprised 1,676 metres across 11 holes conducted between mid-October 2021 and mid-February 2022.
Drilling targeted extension of the mineralised areas beneath the old underground lead-zinc mine as well as potential parallel structures to the main historical mining trend as identified through geological mapping and a close-spaced ground magnetics survey completed in 2020.
Mineralisation is hosted within a quartz-carbonate vein breccia within the greywacke sequences of the area.
Initial drilling concentrated on a small section of the historic mining area (880m strike length), around the historic centre of activity.
However, mineralisation and workings are known over a strike length of up to 4.5 kilometres and potentially extend further over some 9-10 metres to other historic mining areas believed to be along with the same trend.
Scotland Projects
Blackcraig is part of a series of prospects named the Scotland Projects, comprising three Mines Royal Options with the Crown Estate Scotland covering 744 square kilometres in Dumfries and Galloway.
These areas are known for their historic mining (lead-zinc-silver), and aside from the current maiden drill program at Blackcraig, have not undergone any modern systematic mineral exploration since a regional program was conducted by the British Geological Survey (BGS) in the 1970-80s when several anomalies were identified in addition to the numerous old mines and historical mineral shows in the region.
A review of historic data and reconnaissance exploration by Walkabout has identified several prospective areas for both precious and base metals, including two drill-ready projects, the first of which was drilled in December quarter 2021 and March quarter this year.
– Ephrem Joseph
Read the original article in Proactive Investors
