as much 3.5 million oz of gold to be mined at walh

http://www.smh.com.au/news/business/search-finds-plenty-more-gold-at-walhalla/2006/03/30/1143441275560.html

Search finds plenty more gold at Walhalla

March 31, 2006

CONFIDENCE that as much 3.5 million ounces of gold remains to be mined at Goldstar's old Walhalla goldfield in Gippsland's Baw Baw ranges has been raised by latest exploration results.

The confidence boost comes as the Australian dollar gold price consolidates its position at record levels of more than $800 an ounce, giving Goldstar good reason to begin planning to return the once-rich goldfield to production, possibly as early as next year.

The redevelopment of Walhalla after a 92-year break in production would give Victoria an eastern leg to its gold renaissance story, with Bendigo and Ballarat flying the flag in the west of the state.

Speaking at Goldstar's operations office in the nearby town of Rawson, managing director Andrew King said that the exploration potential at Walhalla was currently rated at 3.5 million ounces. But the steady flow of promising exploration results meant that there was "no doubt" that estimate would grow over time.

Results announced yesterday from two holes drilled at the Eureka prospect on the Ross Creek line-of-reef to the east of Mountain Town confirmed a further expansion of the Eureka dyke bulge structure at depth and along strike.

An additional high-grade quartz reef, the eighth identified at Eureka to date, was intersected in the last hole of the program, hole GW53.

"This new reef clearly demonstrates the potential for continued repetitions of the overall system at depth and now provides significant justification for the development of a future exploration program to test the extent of the dyke bulge below the current geological model, which extends to a depth of 300 metres below surface," Mr King said.

Drilling is continuing on the Tubal Cain dyke bulge, four kilometres to the the north of Eureka and a second rig is now punching holes in to the Walhalla Proprietary prospect, 700 metres to the south of Eureka, which has also just been confirmed as a dyke bulge about 100 metres in width.