EXPLORATION drilling at the Lights of Israel Complex (LOI) on the Makai and Great Ophir Lodes adjacent to Eastern Goldfields’ Davyhurst project in Western Australia has returned significant gold intersections. The results confirm that mineralisation at Makai and Great Ophir provides solid underground opportunities.

Best results are: 5.5 metres from 122.2 metres @ 5.95 grams/tonne (g/t) gold, 7.0 metres from 218 metres @ 4.05 g/t, including 4.3 metres @ 5.90 g/t; and 7.0 metres from 134 metres @ 3.60 g/t, including 2.1 metres @ 7.98 g/t.

The LOI Complex is within 1km of the Davyhurst processing plant. The deposit was first mined in 1906, the 1980s and again in the early 2000s. The LOI Complex contains three ore lodes - the LOI shoot, Makai shoot and Great Ophir shoot - with mining extracting 4 million tonnes @ 3.1 g/t gold for approximately 400,000 ounces.

The LOI Complex was identified as a high priority exploration target by Eastern Goldfields’ geologists as the mineralisation in all three lode surfaces remains open beyond existing drilling and significant underground infrastructure remains in place.

Eastern’s executive chairman Michael Fotios said, “With Makai now advanced to a mine ready stage, the company’s focus will shift to infill and extension drilling of the Great Ophir Lode. The geological modelling completed to date has also thrown up conceptual exploration targets capable of delivering new discoveries adjacent to the existing lodes.”

Eastern believes it now has a deep level of understanding of the controls on mineralisation for the LOI Complex. The focus of the recent drilling was to confirm historical results while also providing diamond core for geotechnical assessment.

The company has also received encouraging results from diamond drilling at the Walhalla North prospect, which also forms part of the greater Davyhurst project and is 14km south of the processing plant and midway between the Federal Flag and Walhalla open pits.

Best results are: 3.30 metres @ 5.96 g/t, including 0.5 metres @ 30.29 g/t; 9.80 metres @ 5.57 g/t, including 0.8 metres @ 44.1 g/t and 0.7 metres @ 17.36 g/t; 25.6 metres @ 1.57 g/t, including 0.7 metres @ 12 g/t; and 0.40 metres @ 56.3 g/t.