Aim-listed Lexington Gold has completed 2 355 m of drilling at the Bothaville project, in South Africa’s Free State province, which proves the concept of A-Reef channels occurring on the site.

While three drill holes showed eight intersections of gold-bearing mineralisation, drilling on a fourth borehole was abandoned owing to an unexpected geological structure.

The drilling was aimed at testing for a gold-bearing channel at shallow depth in the target A-Reef horizon at Bothaville, as postulated by the drilling of two historic holes which returned gold grading 7.1 g/t over 71 cm and gold grading 5.53 g/t over 77 cm, respectively.

The latest three holes have proven the concept of A-Reef channels occurring on site, and have provided significantly more information on the presence and orientation of one such channel first intersected by historic third-party drilling, Lexington says.

The new drill holes intersected gold mineralisation about 250 km towards the north-west, north-east and south-east of the historic drill holes, thereby expanding the potential area of mineralisation and indicating a possible large gold system.

Some key intercepts of the three successful holes include 92 cm of gold grading 1.2 g/t from 275 m, and 209 cm of gold grading 0.76 g/t from 442 m.  

The latest drilling, which comprised percussion and core drilling, only tested a localised portion of the entire Bothaville project site, which covers an area of more than 180 km².

Historical drilling data identified other areas with significant gold mineralisation – such that the overall project represents a sizeable gold exploration opportunity, Lexington confirms.

“Despite some of the new intersections being lower than historical grades, predominantly due to their position within the channel system, our improved understanding of the depositional environment, including potential areas of high gold mineralisation and channel orientation, provides valuable insights for developing our geological model and targets for future exploration," comments Lexington chairperson Ed Nealon.

He is confident that further exploration will better define and expand this promising gold system and the larger Bothaville project.

Lexington has interests in four gold projects, comprising 1 675 acres in North and South Carolina, in the US, and five gold projects covering just under 90 000 ha in South Africa.