SensOre Updates on Balagundi Drilling and Other Recent Developments

Four days after becoming the market’s only ASX-listed AI-led explorer, when it entered the main board 11 February - after raising $7.5m at IPO - SensOre (ASX: S3N) announced that first-pass reverse circulation (RC) drilling at its Balagundi joint venture project near Kalgoorlie in WA had picked up the scent of gold.

One of the company’s gold exploration projects in the Yilgarn Craton, a large mineral-rich region around 400km east of Perth in WA but just 16kms from the Super Pit in Kalgoorlie, returned positive results.

The best assay returned 34 metres at 0.54 g/t gold from 96 metres including one metre at 5.4 g/t.

The drilling program also intercepted elevated multi-element pathfinder elements, which is known for - and SensOre says is indicative of - a larger mineralised system nearby.

More drilling in 2022

SensOre’s recently completed first-pass round of drilling was aimed at verifying historical workings and exploration results to build a stratigraphic and geochemical fingerprint for a more substantial 3000-plus metre drill program in 2022.

Significantly aiding the company’s exploration is SensOre’s new infill gravity geophysics and machine learning on geochemical multi-element data.

This technology has been able to successfully reinterpret the geology and has identified new target corridors for the company’s next phase of follow-up drilling.

Other machine learning tools will be applied in phase II

By applying its machine learning workflow for lithology classification, SensOre has been able to achieve a better understanding of the geology of the Balagundi goldfield. 

Advanced pathfinder analysis and other machine learning tools have been used to build a comprehensive targeting dataset which will be applied in the next phase of drilling to test the geochemical footprint of the predicted mineral system.

SensOre has secured drill rigs for its next planned, larger drilling program at Balagundi commencing in second quarter 2022. This will consist of aircore, RC and diamond drilling.

Exciting follow-up targets

Commenting on the RC program to date, CEO Richard Taylor noted that first pass early drilling, coupled with new geophysics, has generated some exciting follow-up targets proximal to the extensive Balagundi nugget field. 

“SensOre’s methodical approach to early drilling, acquisition of infill geophysics and multielement geochem is paying off with elevated gold in all holes drilled. It is the beginning of an exciting period of exploration at Balagundi.” 

Multiple battery minerals opportunities

SensOre recently boosted its battery metals options by adding new high potential nickel-based and battery minerals targets in WA. 

SensOre has recently pegged two new prospects called Scorpion and Jenkins while preparing to drill the first of the company's next generation battery and critical minerals targets; the Moonera prospect (E69/3724), 40km north of the Eyre Highway between Cocklebiddy and Madura on the Nullarbor Plain of WA.

Moonera prospect drilling is anticipated before the end of May 2022.

Then there’s the Auralia nickel-copper-PGE project, 500km east of Kalgoorlie in the Madura Province of WA which consists of three exploration licences granted to farm-in partner CGM (WA) Pty Ltd, a subsidiary of Chalice Mining Limited (ASX: CHN).

Eaglehawk follow-up underway

Meantime, Geophysics at Eaglehawk, which lies directly south of Mulga Bill and borders Great Boulder Resources’ (ASX: GBR) tenements, shows it’s on the same structure south of GBR’s Mulga Bill discovery.

Completed late 2021, SensOre’s collaborative gravity survey with GBR identified gravity low features within north-south trend, along strike from Mulga Bill, for drill testing. 

Follow-up work is underway to assess the effectiveness of historical drilling.

Lefroy farm-in JV

Under the terms of a recent farm-in with Lefroy Exploration (ASX: LEX), SensOre can earn up to 70% in the Marloo Dam by spending up to $800,000 on exploration activities within four years from the commencement of the agreement.

The Marloo Dam, which is located about 12km south of the Lefroy gold project, adjoins SensOre’s existing Maynards Dam project and has been identified as being prospective for gold mineralisation. 

Both tenements are adjacent to and south-east of Gold Fields’ +10Moz St Ives Gold operations.

SensOre is expected to manage all exploration activities during the farm-in period and after the JV is created, hence allowing Lefroy to focus on its wholly owned Eastern Lefroy project that includes the promising Burns copper-gold discovery.

However, Lefroy will retain exposure to any upside at Marloo Dam, which makes up about 1% of its large WA land portfolio, through its 30% interest in the tenement.

SensOre is required to spend at least $200,000 within the first 12 months before it can elect to withdraw. Should it meet the $800,000 farm-in expenditure requirement, the two companies will then establish a JV over the tenement.