Strickland Metals says it has delivered samples from its first three diamond drillholes in Western Australia’s Yandal gold belt to the laboratory for assay, while reverse-circulation (RC) and diamond drilling is continuing.
The company says it expects assay results to be returned in June. All three holes were drilled at its Palomino target, with two of them being put into the existing mineral resource for structural information and a third hole targeting mineralisation extensions.
Additional ongoing work at Palomino includes an induced-polarisation (IP) geophysical survey.
Palomino’s estimated resource is 68,300 ounces of gold. It is one of several targets comprising the company’s Horse Well camp that has turned out to be a highly-endowed, multi-structure, interconnected gold system, with a minimum footprint measuring 4km by 2.5km.
Strickland Metals chairman Anthony McClure said: “An IP crew arrived on site last week and commenced a 3D survey at Palomino. Consequently, the diamond rig has moved to the Bronco prospect while the survey is ongoing. Several other prospects, including Bronco, will also be subject to IP surveys while the crew is on site.”
McClure said planning is also well underway for drilling to begin at the company’s Rogozna project in Serbia, with four diamond rigs scheduled to arrive in early June. It means Strickland will have six rigs operating across its two flagship projects.
Phase one RC and diamond drilling designed to target significant gold mineralisation in the Horse Well complex includes the Bronco-Konik assemblage, Palomino-Clydesdale, and Marwari, with the Filly Central and Warmblood-Filly targets between 1.5 and 3km to the south of the other groups, respectively.
Warmblood-Filly contains an estimate resource of 71,100 ounces of gold, while Filly Central carries another 8700 ounces in current estimates.
Some of the diamond drilling is aimed at unravelling the structural controls at Horse Well, while other diamond and RC work is directed at defining and building on the high-quality, near-surface gold resources. The company hopes it will be able to quickly expand its mineral resources in the area by targeting primary structures and their controls and thereby demonstrate the greater potential of the interconnected system.
Management says two holes have already been drilled at the recently-acquired Rogozna project, about 400km south of the Serbian capital of Belgrade. The project’s multi-element resource contains an estimated 2.96 million ounces gold, 214,000 tonnes of copper and 364,000 tonnes of zinc for an estimated 5.44 million JORC-compliant ounces of gold equivalent.
Both holes were drilled at Medenovac, to 590.5m and 533.9m depth, following up on previously-reported spectacular intercepts including 352m at 2.1 grams per tonne gold equivalent from 240m with 97.7m going 5.1g/t gold equivalent from 321m.
Strickland says it remains well-funded to advance its considerable exploration effort at both of its flagship Yandal and Rogozna projects, with cash and Northern Star Resources shares totalling some $54 million as at the end of the December quarter.
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