Broken Hill Mines (ASX: BHM) has reported strong assays from ongoing drilling at the Pinnacles mine in New South Wales that have identified the presence of a large, continuous zone of very high-grade silver-lead-zinc mineralisation at the Perseverance deposit.
The company generated assays from a further 22 holes at Perseverance, as well as from infill work at the zinc-gold-copper zone at Rope Shaft and shallow drilling at the Fishers target adjacent to the historical pit wall.
Exceptional silver equivalent (AgEq) intercepts delineated the Perseverance zone, which could potentially accelerate underground mining development alongside planned near-term open pit operations.
Perseverance now extends more than 350m down dip and up to 100m wide with thickness typically ranging from 2m to 10m, making it one of the highest-grade undeveloped silver systems in Australia.
Broken Hill Mines holds 70% interest in a joint venture agreement for mining operations at Pinnacles, where it is the exclusive operator.
Robust High-Grade System
The Pinnacles assays demonstrate a robust, laterally-extensive high grade system that remains open down dip, with multiple intercepts exceeding 1,000g/t AgEq.
The new discovery at Perseverance was supported by best intercepts of 5.1 metres at 717 grams per tonne AgEq from 430m including 2.2m at 1,556g/t from 432m and 3.2m at 893g/t from 472m, 2m at 33.6% ZnEq (zinc equivalent) and 930g/t AgEq, and 3.2m at 32.3% ZnEq and 893g/t AgEq.
Thick, near-surface intercepts proximal to the historical open pit included 1.8m at 27.7% ZnEq and 767g/t AgEq, 4.7m at 20.4% ZnEq and 565g/t AgEq, and 6.5m at 17.9% ZnEq and 496g/t AgEq.
The company’s planned Phase 2 drilling throughout 2026, which includes Perseverance, is designed to improve its confidence in the mineralisation’s geometry and continuity.
Updated Pinnacles MRE
Broken Hill Mines is looking to incorporate these results into an updated mineral resource estimate (MRE) for the mine.
The current Pinnacles resource sits at 6 million tonnes at 13.5% ZnEq and 374g/t AgEq (133g/t silver, 3.3% lead, 4.7% zinc and 0.5g/t gold, including a Perseverance resource of 3.5Mt at 15.1% ZnEq and 418g/t AgEq (166g/t silver, 4.1% lead, 4.5% zinc and 0.5g/t gold).
The company is also considering an option to expedite underground development of the Perseverance zone via an exploration decline to access the high-grade mineralisation.
Development at Pinnacles is on track to begin providing ore feed to the company’s 750,000tpa processing plant at the Rasp silver-lead-zinc mine located approximately 15km away by mid-year.
The feed will complement current production from Rasp’s Western Min ore body and the newly-restarted high grade Main Lode deposit.
