PLC Resources fires first drill shots into major WA gold anomaly
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PLC Resources has completed its first drilling campaign at the Rochefort gold mine in the Murchison region of Western Australia, completing an exploration reverse circulation (RC) program and immobilizing the rig from the field.
The company drilled five holes totaling 1018 meters along the core of the 400 meter by 350 meter gold-in-soil anomaly located within an interpreted north-south structural corridor. Hole orientations were designed to intersect quartz-hematite vein systems and associated alteration halo structures.
RC drill chips were sampled at compound four-meter intervals along all holes, with one-meter samples collected from better visible sections.
Early records showed encouraging signs within incised mafic and ultramafic rocks, consistent with gold-bearing hydrothermal systems. These included quartz veins, sulphide mineralization, and potassic biotite alteration intersected along numerous holes.
‘Completing our first exercise program at Rochefort is a significant milestone for PLC. ‘We will let the analysis do the talking and look forward to reporting the results to the market in the coming months.’
PLC Resources managing director Simon Phillips
Rochefort progressed steadily from a conceptual goal through soil geochemistry, rock detritus sampling, and geophysics.
Previous work had outlined a consistent gold anomaly, with ultrafine soil samples from quartz-hematite veins yielding up to 42.9 parts per billion of gold and rock particles yielding up to 11.7 grams of gold per tonne (g/t). Gravitational and magnetic studies also highlighted a structurally complex corridor where multiple interpreted structures and lithological contacts converge.
The mineralization is hosted in fractionated quartz dolerites, a productive rock type associated with several major Yilgarn gold systems. Management believes the interpreted structural intersections may serve as pathways for mineralizing fluids, focusing gold accumulation where key corridors meet.
PLC Resources managing director Simon Phillips said: “The geology team has worked systematically throughout the targeting process, from soil geochemistry and boulder sampling to gravity interpretation, and now we have our first look at what lies beneath. Let the assays do the talking.”
Samples have been sent for multi-element analysis and gold fire analysis, with results expected in four to six weeks.
PLC said it would review the results before planning its next reconnaissance strike at Rochefort and across the wider Abbotts North project. Pending analysis now holds the key to whether the hydrothermal system revealed by the drilling carries the gold grades needed to reveal a new Murchison discovery story.
Few grassroots gold prospects reach the drilling stage carrying such an impressive mix of ingredients.
Rochefort combines large coherent soil anomaly, high-grade rock fragments, favorable structural controls and fertile bedrock. The prospect’s first drill campaign has now tested this recipe below the surface.
Rochefort is also located 20 kilometers north of New Murchison Gold’s Crown Prince deposit, which hosts a 2.2 million tonne resource grading 3.9 g/t gold for 279,000 ounces.
The larger Abbotts Greenstone Belt has historically produced 41,000 ounces at an outstanding head grade of 31 g/t but remains lightly explored by modern standards. The combination of proven equipment, sparse modern drilling and nearby production therefore further strengthened the prospect’s exploration credentials.
While Rochefort appears intent on driving the company’s short-term news flow, PLC is also quietly building a broader gold footprint across another productive Western Australian gold belt.
The Yalgoo project, 300 kilometers south-west, covers more than 220 square kilometers in the Yalgoo-Singleton Greenstone Belt and hosts the 150,000 tonne Wadgingarra gold resource grading 2.7 grams per tonne for 13,000 ounces.
Simply put, Yalgoo offers established mineralization and resource growth opportunities, while Abbotts North offers the advantage of higher risk exploration.
After the drilling is completed and the analysis is done, Rochefort is approaching the moment of extinction.
Although many options were marked before the drill bit arrived, the images obtained from the holes drilled so far show that the system remains alive at depth.
If the tests yield results, PLC could find itself faced with a genuine new gold discovery in the immediate vicinity of one of Murchison’s newest producing mines.
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