Pilbara gold explorer Artemis Resources can now get down to bulk-sampling at its 47K Patch in WA’s Pilbara region after winning government approval.

“We can now get to work on taking and processing big tonnage bulk samples in the 100-tonne to 1000-tonne per sample range,” executive chairman David Lenigas told investors on Wednesday.

“This work will give us a much better understanding of gold grades and gold size distribution.”

Investors have been watching Artemis (ASX:ARV) closely since mid-last year when the company and Canadian partner Novo Resources found gold nuggets at their Purdy’s Reward project south of Karratha.

The market welcomed the news today, with shares rising nearly 9 per cent to 18.5c in early morning trade.

The 47K Patch is located on a recently approved tenement that lies about 30km south of Karratha in the Pilbara, but it is not part of the joint venture with Canada’s Novo Resources.

In a tweet this morning, Mr Lenigas showed off around 1.3kg of gold nuggets recently recovered from shallow surface rehabilitation at the 47K Patch.

“Now this is impressive gold from Artemis Resources 47 Patch and we can now move forward to big bulk samples,” he tweeted.

https://twitter.com/DavidLenigas/status/986374058571739136

The nuggets were recovered from a small 20m by 6m by 1.5m deep area that has been the focus of prospectors over the past two years.

Artemis has now received approval for its initial program of works and has also been granted a 9600-tonne excess tonnage permit.

The permit will allow Artemis to take 4500 tonnes to the company’s nearby Radio Hill plant site to process through the gravity plant, which is permitted to treat this tonnage.

The CSIRO has also now started work with Artemis on the 47 Patch and its surrounds to investigate the origin of the new style of gold mineralisation.

Artemis and the CSIRO completed a week-long field trip in March, kicking off a research program into the formation of conglomerate and paleoplacer gold.

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