Arika raises $3.2m to accelerate Yundamindra gold drilling in WA

Arika raises $3.2m to fund drilling at Yundamindra gold project
Drilling to focus on linking four promising prospects together
Further assays are pending

Special Report: Arika Resources has secured firm commitments from sophisticated investors to raise $3.2m via a placement at $0.025 per share to accelerate drilling at its Yundamindra gold project in WA.

The project sits on a mining lease strategically located 65km south-east of Leonora – meaning it’s in close proximity to a number of mills and easily accessible by road.

The region is dominated by Raleigh Finlayson’s Genesis Minerals (ASX:GMD), a $2.4bn market cap player with two process plants at Gwalia and Mount Morgans.

Arika Resources (ASX:ARI) is searching for the next major find in the hot gold district as prices crest record highs, raising $1m in July to investigate a gold project that was mined for significant historical production of 74,000t at 19.3g/t gold for 45,000oz.

The company’s planned drilling following this placement includes expanding on the exceptional recent results from the Pennyweight Point prospect, including:

30m at 3.86 g/t Au from 89m
30m at 2.36 g/t Au from 64m
23m at 2.84 g/t Au from 53m; and
13m at 2.60 g/t Au from 82m.

The placement also includes a $0.2m commitment from directors, who have also agreed to convert up to a total of $75,000 of accrued director fees on the same terms as the placement – subject to shareholder approval.

Linking four prospects together

Gold mineralisation at the Landed at Last and Bonaparte prospects is currently very shallow, and when investigating the latest results against historical drilling, the company has identified that it’s not only open at depth but also open in multiple directions along strike as well.

This has led Arika to believe there could potentially be a shallow gold orebody or system that links four prospects together for 2,500m of mineralisation along strike, which it plans to test with further drilling.

“We are very happy with the strong support for the placement, and it is a testament to the quality and potential of the Yundamindra gold project,” Arika managing director Justin Barton said.

“The raising places the company in a great position to enable us to immediately accelerate drilling at the rapidly emerging Yundamindra gold project, following the outstanding recent results returned from the company’s maiden drilling programs, which included the company’s longest and best intercept to date of 30m at 3.86 g/t gold.

“Planning and commencement of the next phase of drilling will begin following interpretation of the assays from the remaining 22 holes still pending from our recent drilling program.

“The next phase of drilling will focus on expanding on known mineralisation at Pennyweight Point and testing the 2.5km of potential strike at the greater Landed at Last prospect and on targeting new discoveries.”

Assay results for a further 12 holes at Pennyweight Point remain outstanding, along with 10 from the Landed at Last prospect.

Upon receipt of the results, Arika will plan the next phase of drilling to expand on the known mineralisation at these prospects through extensional resource definition and testing the 2.5km of potential mineralisation on the four greater Landed at Last prospects.

This article was developed in collaboration with Arika Resources, a Stockhead advertiser at the time of publishing.

This article does not constitute financial product advice. You should consider obtaining independent advice before making any financial decisions.