While drilling outside its current resource at Henty, Catalyst recovered three intercepts above 269 grams of gold per tonne, the largest at 603 grams of gold per tonne.

Additionally, 26 of the program’s 89 drill holes hit above 20 grams of gold per tonne.

Catalyst technical director Bruce Kay said the results were welcome and unexpected.

“The underground drilling program is intersecting very high-grade gold zones in the upper part of the mine and identifying structures that have not been tested in the 2020 resource estimate,” Kay said.

“We believe that these areas have the potential to be converted into production in the medium term.”

Located 150 kilometres south-west of Devonport, the drilling program lasted three months from March through May and included three diamond drill rigs.

The September quarter will see Catalyst conduct further drilling a few kilometres north of the Henty mine.

This second program will come thanks to the state government’s Exploration Drilling Grant Initiative (EDGI), which helps to fund and encourage high-quality exploration projects.

Catalyst received $50,000 as part of the initiative; the greatest amount available under the scheme.

“We are also honoured to receive the support and acknowledgement of our exploration strategy at the Henty Gold Project from the Tasmanian Government,” Kay said.

EDGI, administered by Mineral Resources Tasmania on behalf of the state government, has contributed $2 million over four years across 41 grants.