Kalgoorlie Gold Mining Ltd (ASX: KAL) shares are having an incredible finish to the week.

In afternoon trade, the ASX small cap stock is up almost 290% to a 52-week high of 8.9 cents.

Why is this ASX small cap stock rocketing?

With the gold price trading at a record high, it certainly is a good time to make a discovery of the precious metal.

And that is exactly what Kalgoorlie Gold Mining has announced today at its Pinjin project, which is located in the southeast of the Eastern Goldfields. Management notes that this is an area which is becoming a focus for gold discovery and development.

For example, the Pinjin project is strategically located next door to the Rebecca Gold Project owned by Ramelius Resources Ltd (ASX: RMS), where a recent pre-feasibility study outlined a path to gold production by 2027.

According to the release, the ASX small cap stock has identified an extensive gold mineralisation at Pinjin that is to be named Lighthorse.

Management highlights that the extensive, contiguous, widely-spaced intercepts suggest that there is a large primary gold system obscured by transported cover. As a result, further drilling is required to define the system's full extent.

'An incredibly exciting time'

The ASX small cap stock's managing director, Matt Painter, was very pleased with the news. He said:

This is what we've been chasing at Pinjin. Our systematic approach to exploration has paid off. Thick, high-grade gold mineralisation at Lighthorse is located just 1 km west of our Kirgella Gift deposit, beneath transported cover in an area of zero outcrop.

This is a 100% KalGold generated discovery that reinforces the exceptional growth potential at Pinjin. The full extent of the emerging Lighthorse target is unconstrained at this stage, but we have already identified mineralisation over a 600 m northwest-southeast strike length, parallel to the local grain of the Laverton Tectonic Zone, and open along strike and at depth.

Painter also notes that there cross-cutting structures are evident. He adds:

Additional gold mineralised trends associated with cross-cutting structures are also evident, extending over 800 m and open to the northeast. Follow up RC drilling is scheduled for March 2025. We also expect to follow up previously reported thick, shallow gold intercepts at Wessex, next door to the Anglo Saxon Gold Mine, in this upcoming RC drill program.

This is an incredibly exciting time at KalGold. Recently announced discoveries by some of our neighbours, together with this new Lighthorse discovery, are cementing this south-eastern part of the Eastern Goldfields as a hot spot for exploration, discovery, and development. KalGold holds an extensive and strategic footprint within this incredible, historically overlooked area.