Strickland Metals has landed a massive 545.7m drill hit grading 1.1 grams per tonne gold equivalent to create a northern resource extension of the Shanac deposit within its Rogozna gold and base metals project in Serbia.
The big hit was reported from one of three recently-finished holes as part of a 7000m diamond drilling campaign at the 4.63 million-ounce gold equivalent Shanac deposit. Starting at 108m, the intercept also included higher-grade sections of 102m at 1.7g/t and 30m at 2.4g/t.
Significant results from the other two holes also included 355.7m at 1g/t with a high-grade intercept of 41.7m at 2.4g/t and 65.8m at 1.1g/t. The company says that not only do the results confirm that the richly-endowed ore extends at depth, they also show that the skarn-hosted mineralisation to the north of the current resource remains completely open.
The critical piece of the jigsaw puzzle had been missing from Strickland’s dataset due to a lack of drilling and because it had little understanding of the spatial distribution and tenor of the higher-grade mineralised zones in northern part of the deposit.
Management had also previously suggested the potential for resource extensions to the east, which still needs to be investigated. In other words, all the data still points to plenty of exploration upside.
Strickland Metals managing director Paul L'Herpiniere said: “Importantly, the higher-grade intercepts in these recent holes all sit within the previously identified central domain of the deposit. This is significant as it correlates with recent drilling and confirms that our updated geological model remains valid to the north, away from the greater concentration of previous drilling and more-recently announced results.”
The company is part way through a broader 60,000m exploration campaign that started in June at its Rogozna project and which comprises four skarn-hosted deposits. The focus for the program has been to extend the mineralisation at both the Shanac deposit and at the 810,000-ounce Copper Canyon lode, while also defining a maiden resource at Medenovac and the emerging Gradina prospect.
With four rigs currently operating across the Rogozna project, Strickland is well-funded, boasting $48.7 million in cash and shares as of the June quarter, ensuring the company can continue its aggressive exploration and resource expansion efforts.
The company also has three rigs working non-stop at its Horse Well gold camp near Wiluna in Western Australia.
With recent numbers such as 14.4m at 6g/t gold from 114m including a 7m section grading 10.6g/t and 5.2m at 3.1g/t with a 2.2m slice coming in at 7g/t at the Warmblood deposit – one of the most advanced prospects within Horse Well – it is not hard to see why the company is getting excited.
The strong results from both extension and depth drilling have started to reveal the sheer magnitude of the area’s potential to host a big gold deposit, which until recently had been largely concealed.
With more assay results pending and continued work on the horizon, Strickland appears to have timed its exploration and discovery run to near perfection at both Rogozna and Horse Well – especially with the Australian gold price close to crashing the AU$4000 per ounce party. It is currently trading at US$2618 per ounce (AU$3888).
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By James Pearson
