Stavely Minerals Limited has returned final assay results from deep diamond drill-hole STDD0002 at the Freddy’s Find Prospect, confirming a blind gold-silver discovery beneath younger basalt cover at the 100%-owned Stavely Project in western Victoria.

The deep diamond hole tested beneath mineralised intervals previously intersected in shallow reverse circulation drilling. Assay results confirm that the hole extended those earlier intercepts at depth, returning 13.7 metres at 1.80g/t gold equivalent from 223.3 metres down-hole. That intercept included higher-grade intervals of 3.7 metres at 2.16g/t gold equivalent from 223.3 metres and 4 metres at 3.41g/t gold equivalent from 233 metres, which in turn contained 1 metre at 7.03g/t gold equivalent. The 13.7-metre interval sat within a broader zone of 32 metres at 1.00g/t gold equivalent from 220 metres.

Additional deeper intercepts in STDD0002 included 1 metre at 1.43g/t gold equivalent from 334 metres, 2 metres at 1.30g/t gold equivalent from 351 metres, and 1 metre at 1.31g/t gold equivalent from 358 metres within a broader interval of 28 metres at 0.63g/t gold equivalent from 331 metres.

The overall grade at depth proved higher than shallower intercepts previously returned in reverse circulation hole STRC0132, which included 16 metres at 1.05g/t gold equivalent from 46 metres depth. No metallurgical testwork has been completed at this early stage, with gold equivalent calculations assuming an 80% silver recovery based on similar epithermal operations.

“Freddy's Find has indeed been confirmed as a 'blind' gold-silver discovery under a variable thickness of much younger basalt cover of between 20-50m. No other group has previously identified these rocks or this style of mineralisation in the region.”

— Chris Cairns, Chair and Managing Director

Stavely controls approximately 130 kilometres of volcanic arc tenure across the wider Stavely Project, with approximately 85% of prospective areas obscured by younger transported cover and basalt flows with little to no surface exposure. The gold-silver discovery at Freddy's Find complements the company's previous copper-gold-silver discovery at the Cayley Lode made in 2019.

To advance the prospect, Stavely plans to carry out a program of approximately 10 to 12 nearby reconnaissance reverse circulation holes. The upcoming drilling will evaluate the strike extent of the Freddy's Find epithermal target, test a large-scale porphyry target to the south-west known as the S4 target, and assess an undrilled Freddy's Find look-alike target located to the west.

Read the full announcement: Assay Results Confirm 'Blind' Gold-Silver Discovery