Santana Minerals (ASX:SMI) has reported a step-out drill success at its Rise and Shine gold deposit, with hole MDD490 intersecting a broad 38.6m mineralised zone grading 1.70g/t gold, including 13.6m at 2.42g/t Au, approximately 135m north of previous drilling limits.
The intercept, hosted within the thickest silicified breccia encountered at the project to date, confirms substantial down-plunge thickening of the mineralised system and highlights favourable conditions for continued gold deposition at depth.
The step-out extends the known mineralisation to roughly 2.15km down-plunge and lies about 465m beyond the area used for the current RAS mineral resource estimate, indicating potential for substantial orebody extensions and a higher-grade core suitable for underground mining.
In parallel, Santana has lodged a 135km2 prospecting permit application with New Zealand Petroleum and Minerals to explore the northern extension of the Rise and Shine Shear Zone.