LSE-listed Kavango Resources has discovered new gold-bearing structures at the Bill's Luck gold mine, at the Hillside project, in Zimbabwe.

Kavango has been mining gold at Bill's Luck since August last year. The company has drilled more than 3 800 m of combined diamond and reverse circulation (RC) drilling to test targets for near-term development.

The new gold-bearing structures are both along strike and downdip from current mining operations, suggesting a much larger gold system than originally anticipated.

Kavango said on June 24 that the results significantly raise the company's expectations for the commercial potential at Bill's Luck. To this end, the company is considering options to upgrade mining and production capacity at the mine over the remainder of the current year.

“Bill's Luck continues to exceed expectations. We are positioned to move quickly on these . . . results and accelerate our plans to increase gold production at this mine.

It is clear that Bill's Luck is significantly bigger than we originally interpreted,” Kavango CEO Ben Turney said.

So far, drilling has intercepted multiple altered shear structures hosting gold-mineralised quartz veins. Four possible ore shoots have been identified over 245 m along the Bill's Luck main reef which remains open along strike. Two new parallel structures have also been identified 100 m north-west of the main reef.

So far, discoveries include new and unexploited parallel structures hosting gold mineralised quartz reefs, one located about 10 m into the hanging wall and two further structures in the footwall from current mining operations.

Surface diamond drilling tested the interpreted geometry, grade and downdip continuity of inferred ore shoots at Bill's Luck and Roscor shafts.

Gold mineralisation was intersected at 160 m vertical depth at Bill's Luck and 180 m vertical depth at Roscor. Work is ongoing to bring Roscor shaft into production, the company said.

Diamond drilling at hole BLDD007 intersected a parallel structure hosting mineralised quartz veins in the hanging-wall, grading 1.46 g/t over 1 m from 43 m. BLDD007 also intersected two parallel structures hosting mineralised quartz veins in the footwall, including 1.65 g/t over 0.4 m from 228.9 m, in a structure thought to be up to 4 m wide, as well as 1.9 g/t over 0.8 m from 249.5 m, in a structure thought to be up to 2.5 m wide.

At BLDD006, Kavango intersected two parallel structures hosting mineralised quartz veins in the footwall, returning 1.38 g/t over 3 m from 196 m and 2.24 g/t over 0.84 m from 216.74 m, in a structure thought to be up to 2 m wide.

Phase 1 RC drilling on Bill's Luck extensions encountered several notable intersections. BLPD002 intersected 2.69 g/t over 3 m from 44 m in anastomosing quartz veins, while BLPD004 intersected 9.26 g/t over 2 m from 22 m in an altered shear zone. BLPD010 intersected 2.65 g/t over 1 m from 53 m in mineralised quartz veins.

In the phase 2 RC drilling north-east of Bill's Luck main reef, BLRC002 intersected 1.57 g/t over 2 m from 52 m in an alteration zone with quartz veins, while BLRC008B intersected 3.61 g/t over 1 m from 34 m hosted by quartz veins in an altered shear zone.

Kavango said its exploration team would now design an infill and step-out surface drilling plan comprising both diamond and RC holes to inform and define the geometry and continuity of the new reefs. Geotechnical drilling is set to start soon.

Kavango’s mining team will now prepare a development plan to assess engineering and processing requirements for rapidly increasing production at Bill's Luck.

“This was a significant mine development campaign for Kavango. We intersected gold-bearing quartz veins across many of the holes we drilled. The discovery of new gold mineralised reefs and gold mineralisation running to at least 180 m depth highlight the exceptional opportunity in this system,” Turney said.

He explained that the company also checked the extents of historical voids from previous mining to define safe mining limits for current operations, and took the opportunity to test targets in the hanging wall and footwall of the main reef.

“We appear to have identified four separate ore shoots that pinch and swell. This is in keeping with what we have encountered in mining operations at Bill's Luck. The grade distribution and discovery of parallel structures, that could extend for 1.5 km of strike, make this a highly prospective target for near-term development.

“With the potential to add new sources of ore and build out mineable reserves, we are now assessing options to upgrade production significantly at Bill's Luck over the course of 2025,” Turney said.