Red Hill Minerals Drills Significant Gold at Barkley Prospect in Hamersley Basin

About Red Hill Minerals

Red Hill Minerals Limited (ASX: RHI) is a Perth-based mineral exploration company focused on gold and base metals in Western Australia. The company holds a large tenement position in the Hamersley Basin, where it is exploring for gold and base metals associated with the major regional-scale faults in the area. Red Hill Minerals is led by CEO Michael Wall and has a current market capitalization of approximately AUD $15 million.

Introduction

On September 27th, 2023, Red Hill Minerals announced promising gold drilling results from its Barkley prospect within the company's Ashburton gold project in the Hamersley Basin of Western Australia. The results are from a recently completed 4-hole, 783 metre reverse circulation (RC) drilling program testing the Barkley gold and VTEM targets.

The drilling intercepted significant gold mineralization related to structures associated with the major regional Deepdale Fault on the project. Follow-up drilling is planned in November to further test the extent of gold mineralization.

Highlights from Drilling Program

• Hole 23BKRC005 returned an impressive intercept of 4 metres at 3.7 g/t gold from 90-94 metres, including 2 metres at 6.4 g/t gold. This intercept is interpreted to be associated with a steeply southwest dipping fault and structure related to the Deepdale Fault.
• Hole 23BKRC004 returned 1 metre at 0.9 g/t gold and 1 metre at 0.5 g/t gold in the primary zone. While lower grade, this mineralization indicates the presence of a gold system.
• The results confirm the presence of significant gold mineralization related to structures associated with the major Deepdale Fault corridor. This structure extends over 60km and represents a major exploration target.
• The mineralization remains open along strike and at depth, with follow-up drilling planned in November to test the interpreted structure.

Geological Setting

The Barkly prospect is strategically located proximal to the Deepdale Fault which marks the contact between the Hamersley and Ashburton Basins in the Hamersley region. The area is prospective for gold associated with the fault network and associated splays that are interpreted to transect Red Hill's large regional tenure position.

Much of the area is under cover, resulting in geochemical suppression at surface. However, recent drilling by Red Hill has intersected primary gold mineralization related to structures associated with the Deepdale Fault corridor. This initial drilling validates the company’s targeting model for the area.

Details from Recent Drilling Program

The recent 4-hole RC drilling program at Barkley consisted of 2 holes testing the Barkley gold target and 2 holes testing VTEM base metal anomalies to the north. The current drilling focused on following up anomalous gold results from previous drilling in the 1990’s which included intercepts such as:

• 2m at 1.39 g/t gold from 31m in SRC004
• 1m at 1.58 g/t gold from 13m in SRC005

Hole 23BKRC004 intersected a broad zone of low grade mineralization, with results including 1m at 0.9 g/t gold and 1m at 0.5 g/t. This hole confirms the presence of a gold system in the area.

However, the highlight result came from drill hole 23BKRC005 which intersected high-grade gold associated with structures related to the Deepdale Fault corridor. Significant results included:

• 3m at 1.8 g/t gold from 19-22m
• 4m at 3.7 g/t gold from 90-94m, including 2m at 6.4 g/t gold

The high-grade intercept is hosted in black siltstone with silica-pyrite alteration. Importantly, this mineralization is open along strike and at depth, providing significant expansion potential.

No significant base metal mineralization was intersected at the Barkly VTEM anomalies to the north. However, the drilling indicates that the structures related to the Deepdale Fault zone are the key gold targets in the region.

Future Exploration Plans

Red Hill is planning an immediate follow-up drilling program in November to further test the gold mineralization intersected at Barkley. A program consisting of 5 RC holes for ~750 metres is proposed to test the interpreted structure over a strike length of approximately 750 metres.

Additional work planned includes geological mapping, UltraFine soil sampling and rock chip sampling to help delineate the orientation of the mineralized structure.

The results validate Red Hill’s view that the Deepdale Fault corridor is a major regional-scale structure that provides significant gold exploration potential across the company’s large Hamersley Basin tenure. Follow-up drilling will aim to expand the footprint of known mineralization along strike and at depth.

Broader Regional Potential

The Hamersley Basin is a proven gold producing region, with significant mines including the Paulsens (Northern Star) and Mount Olympus/Kundana (Kirkland Lake Gold) operations. However, much of the basin remains underexplored due to the cover overlying prospective geology.

Recent explorers like Red Hill, Kalamazoo Resources and Black Cat Syndicate have recognized the potential and are taking a systematic, scientific approach to exploration. The recent results at Barkley provide proof of concept that significant gold deposits can be discovered under cover in the region.

Red Hill is well positioned with its dominant regional land holding proximal to major crustal-scale structures. The company is employing modern exploration techniques to see beneath the cover and make new discoveries. The initial results from Barkley are a promising start, and Red Hill will be aggressively following up these results.

Investors should watch closely over the coming months as systematic exploration unfolds across Red Hill’s targets along the Deepdale Fault and other regional structures. Near-term catalysts include the follow-up drilling program planned at Barkley, along with ongoing target delineation work across its broader Hamersley Basin tenure. Red Hill has the potential to make district-scale gold discoveries analogous to others like DeGrussa, Hemi and Gruyere.

Conclusion

The recent drilling results from Barkley provide proof of concept and validation of Red Hill's targeting model for gold mineralization associated with major regional structures in the Hamersley Basin. While early stage, the high-grade gold intercepted demonstrates the potential for Red Hill to delineate significant new deposits under cover.

With a dominant and strategic tenement position, multiple walk-up drill targets, disciplined science-driven exploration and a proven technical team, Red Hill Minerals represents an exciting speculative investment opportunity. Near-term catalysts lie ahead, and investors should closely monitor results over the coming year. Success at Barkley could drive rapid re-rating as the market recognizes the potential scale of the opportunity.