South Australia-focused explorer Barton Gold has started a diamond drilling program at its Tarcoola project, one of two gold properties on which it is planning to develop a large-scale production base.

Drilling is targeting an area around the historic Perseverance mine at Tarcoola.

While Perseverance saw the only modern mine operation in recent times at Tarcoola.

Tarcoola, in its 130-year history of high-grade gold production, hosted hundreds of shallow historical workings across what is now Barton’s ground.

The project lies near the junction of the trans-continental and Darwin railway lines and, 70km to the south, Barton holds the unmined Tunkillia project which has a JORC resource in place. Both projects are located in the highly prospective Gawler Craton.

In addition, Barton owns the region’s only gold ore processing mill, the Central Gawler mill plant (as well as the mothballed Challenger mine which is not deemed a priority).

Drilling outside old mine ground

Before its June 2021 ASX listing, Barton had conducted drilling at Tarcoola outside the historic Perseverance mine at Deliverance and New Perseverance West prospects.

It is Perseverance West that is now being drilled to allow the company to confirm the structural nature of the deposit ahead of an updated mineral resource estimate.

After listing, in October 2021 Barton used reverse circulation drilling to explore a shallow extension of the Perseverance mine, followed by infill drilling in 2022.

The company’s previous drilling produced intersections including 3m at 33.7 grams per tonne gold, 4m at 6.85g/t, 2m at 15.06g/t and 7m at 7.75g/t.

Perseverance a ‘starting point’ for initial mining

Managing director Alex Scanlon said the old Perseverance open pit mine is a potential starting point for Stage 1 regional operations.

“The mine was producing high-grade ore to our Central Gawler Mill during 2017 and 2018, and extensions could represent a very attractive source of shallow, accessible mineralisation,” he added.

Mr Scanlon said the company is working to identify a series of shallow deposits that can be mined by open pit operations.

Looking at series of open pits

Tarcoola until 1956 was South Australia’s major hard rock gold mine, producing 77,000oz at an average 37.5g/t.

Mining resumed at Tarcoola in 2016 when the former WPG Resources worked the open pit and hauled ore to the Central Gawler mill.

Receivers were called in by August 2018 at WPG Resources.

Barton holds 1,202 sq km of ground at Tarcoola.