Gold Intersected at Dusty – Highlights Gold Prospectivity Around Recent Nickel Discoveries

Toro Energy Limited (ASX: TOE) (‘the Company’ or ‘Toro’) is pleased to announce that geochemical assays have confirmed that gold (Au) mineralisation was intersected in diamond drill hole TED25, 80m north of the massive nickel sulphides intersected in TED04 at the Dusty nickel sulphide discovery (see Figure 1).

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HIGHLIGHTS

• Geochemical assays have confirmed that Toro intersected gold (Au) in diamond drill hole TED25, approximately 80m north of the massive nickel sulphides discovered at Dusty in TED04.
• TED25 intersected 4m at 1.4g/t Au from 188m downhole, including 2m at 2.2g/t Au from 188m downhole.
  
• The gold intersection in TED25 is located in a thin section of sheared and altered footwall metasediments between the overlying komatiite that hosts the Dusty nickel (Ni) sulphides just to the south and the underlying granite.
• The intersection confirms the prospectivity of the Dusty area for gold, with gold anomalism also intersected in drill holes TERC13, TED03, TED04, TED06, TED23, and TED24 all within the Dusty nickel discovery zone.
• Anomalous base metal and gold pathfinders associated with structure have also been intersected within the Dusty nickel exploration drilling in similar stratigraphic locations to the Au, at or near the granite contact within the footwall metasediments.
• A significant breccia zone with quartz-carbonate-sulphide infill was intersected beneath the Houli Dooley nickel sulphide discovery, for instance, 9.85m thick starting from 333.5m downhole and which included:
  • 1.15m at 1.0% copper, 0.12% zinc, 0.062% lead, 0.09g/t gold, 20g/t silver, 188g/t bismuth with anomalous cadmium, molybdenum and tellurium from 335.3m downhole; and
    
  • 2.2.m at 0.062% copper, 80g/t bismuth and anomalous lead, silver and molybdenum from 341m downhole.
    
• The gold and the significant structures containing base metals and gold pathfinders intersected beneath the Dusty komatiite shows that the Dusty and surrounding target areas are highly prospective for gold mineralisation and targeting nickel sulphides will also be testing for gold.
• In the overlying komatiite, geochemical evidence suggests disseminated nickel sulphides are present, although difficult to determine with the naked eye, with some 12.7m grading 0.44% Ni.

The intersection of 4m at 1.4g/t Au from 188m downhole highlights the prospectivity of the Dusty Target Area for gold and base metals, adding to the anomalism intersected in a number of the exploration drill holes in the area, in particular the gold anomalism proximal to the Dusty nickel sulphide discovery zone. TED25 was drilled as part of the Company’s 100% owned Dusty Nickel and Yandal Gold Projects (Figure 1). The Dusty Nickel and Yandal Gold Projects are located on the same exploration ground within the Yandal Greenstone Belt, some 50km east of the world class Mt Keith Nickel Deposit and only 15km NE of the world class Bronzewing Gold Mine (see Figure 2).

Diamond drill hole TED25 was drilled to test for northern extension of the Dusty nickel discovery, being drilled some 40m north of what are now known as the Dusty discovery holes of TERC13 (a reverse circulation drill hole) and TED03 and 80m north of the first definitive massive nickel sulphides intersected at the Dusty discovery within TED04. The intersection consisted of 4m at 1.4g/t Au from 188m downhole and included 2m at 2.2g/t from 188m downhole. The gold is hosted within a 5m thick (downhole) chlorite altered shear zone incorporating footwall metasediments directly between the overlying Dusty komatiite and underlying granite.

Although not the focus of this ASX announcement, the overlying Dusty komatiite was found to be approximately 58.6m thick (downhole) in TED25 and geochemical indicators suggest it hosts 13.5m of continuous disseminated nickel sulphides at its base grading 0.43% Ni on average from 174m downhole.

The gold intersection in TED25 confirms the prospectivity of the Dusty area for gold, with gold anomalism also intersected in drill holes TERC13, TED03, TED23, TED24, TED04, and TED06 (in order of north to south from TED25), all within the Dusty nickel discovery zone.

In TERC13, the gold anomaly occurs throughout the footwall metasediments starting from 181m downhole depth, and extends into the underlying granitoid. It includes intervals of 2m at 0.57g/t gold from 182m and 5m at 0.49g/t gold from 187m downhole, the latter including 1m at 1.3g/t gold from 188m downhole (refer to ASX announcement of 7 November 2019). In TED03, which twins TERC13 from above, 0.84g/t Au was intercepted in the footwall metasediments from 182m downhole.

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