Corazon Mining (ASX: CZN) is accelerating drill planning after unveiling a maiden exploration target at its Chalice gold project near Higginsville, Western Australia.

The exploration target is 9.7 to 12.3 million tonnes (Mt) at 1.9 to 2.1 grams per tonne (g/t), for approximately 600,000 to 830,000 ounces of contained gold. Under the JORC (2012) reporting framework, exploration targets are conceptual in nature — they indicate the potential tonnage and grade of a deposit but cannot be treated as, or converted to, a mineral resource until confirmed by sufficient drilling.

Managing Director Simon Coyle said the target suggests the mineralised system at Chalice extends materially beyond the existing 191,000-ounce JORC (2012) mineral resource estimate (MRE), providing a substantive platform to grow the resource base as Corazon advances Chalice towards development.

"This exploration target confirms what our technical team has suspected since we first reviewed the Chalice database — this is a considerably larger system than the resource we acquired," Mr Coyle said.

"Decades of drilling and underground sampling point clearly to mineralisation extending well beyond the current Resource — both near-surface and at depth. There is real work still to do before any of that potential can be converted to a Mineral Resource, and we intend to get on with the drilling required to confirm it.

"There is genuine potential for a substantial high-grade open pit cutback at Chalice — an outcome that, if confirmed through further drilling, could underpin a low-cost mining operation and meaningful cashflow contribution as we work toward advancing Chalice into a development-ready open pit gold mine."

Chalice is Corazon's third Western Australian gold acquisition completed within the past 12 months, following Two Pools and Feather Cap. The Higginsville area sits within Western Australia's Eastern Goldfields, one of Australia's most prolific gold-producing regions, and past open pit operations in the district have historically fed regional processing plants — an infrastructure setting that development-focused juniors in the area often seek to leverage.

The company will conduct a minimum of 7,500m of additional RC drilling at Chalice over the next six months, subject to funding, access and regulatory approvals. The program is intended to test the geological and grade continuity assumptions underpinning the exploration target and to provide information required to assess whether future mineral resource estimation may be appropriate in areas not presently classified as mineral resource. The timeframe means assay results from the campaign would be a key marker of progress over the coming two quarters.

Corazon is finalising the scope of the drilling program required to test those assumptions, subject to funding and approvals, and is also progressing a technical review of the cut-off grades and geological interpretation referenced in the announcement.

CZN shares rose 4.17% to 12.5¢.

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