Speaking to a geo, he pointed out some basics I had missed, but the company has mentioned similar in passing:
Rock chips are best taken from ridge-lines (as can be seen in NVA's pattern of samples).
I was thinking we weren't sampling the valley because of the snow cover, but ridge lines are in fact better for taking samples (sampling from outcropping, for accuracy purposes). The rocks on the ridge are still in place, where they have been for ages, while the rocks in the valley could be scree, rocks that broke off from
somewhere uphill.
This rock chip in the valley for example - if it is a scree type rock, then it may have broken off from any place uphill. Left? Up? Right? It does not necessarily indicate gold underneath it, and does not necessarily point in a specific direction (except probably uphill somewhere).
So rock chips can be useful for ridge lines.
But valleys demand drilling. I speculate that a valley could initially be rock chip sampled, to decide whether it's worth sampling the surrounding ridgelines.
The rock chips on the ridges might give hints for the valleys though. Eg. the thinking that it could be a 1.2km trend from Train to Trumpet, as the rock chips are quite continuous.
Also of note, the pads are usually on the edge of the snowcover (if in a valley), and are easier on the crests of the hills (I don't know why exactly).
I also noted:
- 1.2km between Train / Trumpet pads. 400m drills from both ends might get a decent way through the valley area.
- I saw pallets with hooks for helicopter connections. So I guess they heli out the cores to the airstrip.
- Also I guess they'd not want to land a heli on ice - high risk. So placing pads on the edges of the snow cover (applicable to Train-mid, RPM-mid).
Also this interactive map is new to me, for Cathedral (
https://novaminerals.com.au/korbel-mining-complex/cathedral/). It's very good transparency. Cathedral has a lower grade than Korbel so far, but it can help to suggest whether there's reasonable potential for improvement -
