ASX-listed junior explorer Strickland Metals says its recently acquired 346,000-ounce Millrose gold project on the north-eastern flank of the prolific gold-bearing Yandal-Millrose greenstone belt in WA provides an outstanding drill-ready opportunity to potentially grow its gold resource base in pursuit of possible early production.
The Perth-based company snapped up the project for $10 million in a transaction comprising staged payments to the previous owners Millrose Gold Mines and Golden Eagle Mining.
Millrose hugs the regionally significant Celia shear zone and sits about 30 kilometres east of Northern Star Resources’ 10-million-ounce-plus Jundee gold operation.
Strickland’s new asset comes gift wrapped with an existing indicated and inferred mineral resource weighing in at 6 million tonnes grading an average 1.8 grams per tonne for 346,000 ounces of contained gold.
Post the acquisition, the company’s overall gold resource inventory on the north-eastern flank of the Yandal-Millrose greenstone belt has been more than doubled to 603,000 ounces from 11.72 million tonnes going 1.6 g/t.
Strickland’s ground-holdings in the region have also expanded as a result of its Yandal consolidation drive to a touch under 2,000 square kilometres.
Millrose gold mineralisation remains open in virtually every direction and the project area has not seen any substantive follow-up exploration over the past two decades, Strickland says.
The company suggests the reported resource forms part of a “large mineralised” system that has an interpreted strike length of at least 2km.
According to Strickland, the auriferous trend appears well defined and traceable in the available geophysical datasets and limited historical drilling.
Strickland Metals Technical Consultant Peter Langworthy said: “From a technical perspective, the company will begin resource extensional drilling in areas of previously identified gold mineralisation which have not been included in any past resource calculations.”
“We expect this will add substantial gold ounces very cheaply and very quickly. Drilling will also test depth extensions to higher grade zones which remain open. Separate to that, mineralisation remains open to the north and south of the current modelled deposits. Historic aircore drilling has identified similar mineralisation to what we see above the current mineral resource.”
Strickland says it intends undertaking a systematic drill out of the exploration areas and hopes to commence initial drilling at Millrose in the next quarter, with the bulk of the drilling campaign earmarked to kick off in earnest in the first quarter of next year.
The company estimates it will carry out 30,000 metres of aircore drilling, 15,000m of reverse circulation drilling and 8,000m of diamond drilling in the maiden Millrose resource expansion program.
Strickland’s existing inferred mineral resource for the nearby multi-deposit Horse prospect of just over 148,000 ounces of gold also straddles the gold-bearing Celia shear zone structure.
Horse forms part of its Horse Well project that also takes in the Dusk Til Dawn deposit.
Between them, the Dusk Til Dawn and Horse prospects speak for the combined inferred mineral resource numbers for the project that tip the scales at 5.72 million tonnes at an average grade of 1.4 g/t for 257,000 ounces of contained gold.
Is your ASX-listed company doing something interesting? Contact: matt.birney@businessnews.com.au
By Matt Birney
