The first three diamond holes in a Native Mineral Resources drill program have confirmed shallow, high-grade gold mineralisation at Blackjack near Charters Towers.

Managing director Blake Cannavo said the results boded well to potentially increase mining at Blackjack beyond the company’s initial plans, unlocking the deposit’s value in a gold price environment that was much stronger than when it was previously mined.

“We look forward to receiving further results from this program as drilling continues through March,” he said.

“The Blackjack deposit is proximal to our Blackjack gold processing plant, which we are currently refurbishing on schedule and budget, and we remain confident of achieving gold production and executing our growth strategy over the coming months.”

Related: NMR on target for Charters Towers gold goals

The 17-hole program underway at Blackjack aims to twin historical drillholes to confirm the reliability of results to JORC 2012 standards.

It follows a review by MEC Mining which indicated the presence of gold mineralisation within 50m of surface at Blackjack.

Assay results include:

• 4m at 6.27g/t gold from 30m downhole, including 0.49m at 45.70g/t gold from 31m
• 4m at 0.88g/t gold from 33m, including 1m at 2.70g/t gold from 36m and 1m at 4.28g/t gold from 21m
• 4m at 1.26g/t gold from 36m including 1m at 4.05g/t gold from 37m

Native Mineral Resources inked a deal late last year to acquire the Blackjack and Far Fanning deposits, Blackjack processing plant, and other assets in the Charters Towers region for $18.9 million.

It recently raised $14.9 million from new and existing shareholders, including a $6.8 million investment by Maas Group Holdings managing director Wes Maas, to advance its gold production plans.

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