PLC Resources has completed follow-up drilling at its Rochefort gold prospect in Western Australia’s Murchison region, with early logging indicating the programme reached the sheared, sulphide-bearing geology targeted by the company.
The eight-hole reverse circulation campaign covered 1,896 metres and was designed to test extensions of a fractionated dolerite unit identified during an earlier five-hole programme in May.
Samples from the latest drilling have been sent to the laboratory, with gold assays expected in four to six weeks. Until those results are returned, the presence and extent of any gold mineralisation remain unconfirmed.
PLC said the logging showed sheared zones containing sulphides and magnetite within the targeted dolerite. The findings are consistent with its exploration model, which focuses on sulphidation processes associated with major gold deposits in the Yilgarn region.
The company believes mineralising fluids may have interacted with iron-rich dolerite, altering sulphides such as pyrrhotite into pyrite and potentially precipitating gold.
Simon Phillips, PLC Resources’ executive director, said: “We’ve now completed our follow-up drilling at Rochefort, and the logging shows the geology we set out to find: sheared, sulphide-bearing zones within the fractionated dolerite.”
“That’s encouraging, but the assay results are required to determine whether the system is mineralised with gold. We expect those results within the next four to six weeks,” he added.
Regional structure identified near Rochefort
PLC’s initial five-hole campaign encountered low-level but consistent gold readings and geochemical indications that drilling may have reached the edge of a larger mineralised system. The latest programme was intended to test that interpretation.
Separately, an airborne magnetic survey has identified what the company describes as a large fold structure along the eastern margin of the Abbotts Greenstone Belt. The feature extends for more than 14 kilometres and continues south into ground held by New Murchison Gold.
PLC plans to conduct geological reconnaissance over the newly identified structural corridors next month, followed by an initial regional aircore drilling programme on untested targets.
The company is therefore awaiting the Rochefort assays while preparing to investigate a second exploration opportunity across its Murchison ground.
