By Sharina Ahmad
MUI Properties Bhd has discovered high-grade gold mineralisation, confirming historical data and extending past drilling results, in new drilling in a Western Australian mining site.
The company has a 40.7% stake in Nex Metals Explorations Ltd, a gold exploration company listed on the Australian Securities Exchange (ASX).
MUI group chairman and CEO Andrew Khoo (pic) says the findings of the recent 10 drill holes in the Kookynie site of Nex Metals show the area has huge potential to be commercialised and it needs to be done through mining trial.
“Our plan is to bring it to commercial opportunities and there are a few ways of doing it. One way is through trial mining. If it happens to be successful, we will surely need to process it.
“Another step is processing gold and facilities are needed. For now, we do not have them. We need to outsource,” Khoo said at the Chinese New Year media luncheon at Corus Hotel today (Feb 4).
The recent drilling was carried out by another ASX company, Metalicity Limited, which entered into a farm-in agreement with Nex Metals last year.
Metalicity’s managing director Jason Livingstone described the results of the drill holes in three separate mining areas of Nex Metals’ Kookynie tenements as “spectacular”.
The reversed-circulation holes achieved high-grade gold intercepts of up to 80.17 g/t. The previous nine holes drilled six months earlier by Metalicity had also encountered significant gold intercepts of up to 31.2 g/t.
Livingstone said the drilling had managed to intersect the mineralised structure in every drill hole.
According to him, the latest results illustrate that the Kookynie site has the potential to become a “prolific” gold mine.
Furthermore, the intercepts were also shallow, making the three sites possibly suitable for more economical open-pit mining. In partnership with Nex Metals, Metalicity has acquired an additional 3,300ha of mining tenements in the prolific Kookynie Niagara Trend through farm-in agreements and tenement-pegging exercises.
The acquisition, following a strategic study of tenement activity in the area, will significantly extend existing mining tenements in the Kookynie area to over 7,000ha, described as “exceptionally prospective ground” in the ASX announcement.
Presently, the Kookynie project is host to six significant prospects, namely Champion, McTavish, Leipold, Diamantina, Cosmopolitan and Cumberland. The recent test holes were drilled in the Champion, McTavish and Leipold sites. In addition to Kookynie, Nex Metals also holds significant mining leases in the Yundamindera area.
MUI Properties’ shareholding in the gold-exploration company follows its recent decision to exercise the option to convert its A$1.5 mil Secured Convertible Notes in Nex Metals into about 12.5 million ordinary shares of the company. – Feb 4, 2020
