Zenith Minerals has struck gold in all six of the first holes assayed in a drill campaign designed to bridge a 600-metre gap between two key deposits at its flagship consolidated Dulcie gold project in Western Australia.

The initial results from a recently completed program include a notable 3-metre intersection grading 2.48 grams per tonne (g/t) gold from 130m, with the promising results hinting at the potential to bridge the gap and link the deposits.

The drilling targeted the previously untested ‘Dulcie Central’ corridor, a stretch of ground sitting between the company’s Dulcie North and Dulcie deposits. Management says the early success supports its geological theory that the prospective host sequence and the gold-bearing Dulcie shear zone extend continuously through the project’s hefty six-kilometre corridor.

Other significant intercepts include 4m at 1.3g/t gold, 6m at 0.93 g/t gold and 2m at 2.42g/t gold.

The drill program is aimed at growing the project’s existing 675,000-ounce gold resource. However, with historical hits at the broader project already delivering stunners such as 32m at 9.4 g/t gold and 3m at 70 g/t gold, any success in proving up a continuous mineralised system could significantly enhance the project’s overall scale and pit economics.

Zenith has now completed all holes in the 4601m reverse circulation (RC) program and is awaitingassays from the remaining 25 holes. The company says it expects those results to land sometime in October.

Zenith Minerals managing director Andrew Smith said: “Gold mineralisation in all six of the first holes at Dulcie Central is an encouraging start to the programme. This is previously untested ground between the Dulcie North and Dulcie deposits and these first results confirm gold mineralisation within the gap and support our geological interpretation that the prospective host sequence and Dulcie shear extend through Dulcie Central.”

The positive results, which appear to be proving up the ground, come as corporate machinations unfold in the background. An off-market scrip takeover by Forrestania Resources to scoop up Zenith and its Dulcie gold project for a reported $93.5 million remains ongoing as the particulars of the takeover are ironed out and its largest shareholders are mollified.

The Consolidated Dulcie project sits within the Southern Cross–Forrestania gold belt and benefits from granted mining leases, shallow open-pit style mineralisation and proximity to regional processing infrastructure at Marvel Loch and Edna May.

Elsewhere, Zenith’s promising Red Mountain gold project in Queensland remains a tantalising early-stage gold system. The company’s refocused diamond drilling at the project has now traced gold mineralisation beyond 700 metres vertical depth, reinforcing the continuity of a broad breccia-hosted intrusion-related gold system (IRGS).

Once all results are in for Dulcie, management says it will assess whether the drilling warrants a maiden mineral resource estimate for the central corridor tenement and a potential update to the existing resource at the adjacent Dulcie South.

While takeover talks continue, Zenith appears focused on the task at hand - systematically testing the ground and adding ounces at Dulcie. Proving up gold mineralisation across the 600-metre gap would be a compelling step forward and with a flood of assays just around the corner, the full picture of what lies between the Dulcie deposits is about to get a whole lot clearer.

Is your ASX-listed company doing something interesting? Contact: matt.birney@wanews.com.au