Indiana looks to expand its targets with extensional drilling at its Central Gawler project. Pic via Getty Images.
Indiana returns to hunting for gold as drilling starts at Minos and Ariadne
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Indiana has returned to the gold hunt with the start of extensional reverse circulation drilling at the Minos and Ariadne prospects within its Central Gawler project in South Australia.
Most of the 17 hole program totalling about 2,300m will focus on the Minos prospect where previous drilling has returned gold hits such as 38m at 6.54 grams per tonne gold from 29m and outlined a 600m strike extent of shallow mineralisation.
This will test the extension of known strike towards the northwest while tightening the drill density while two of the holes will test the orientation of gold mineralisation exploited from historical workings at the Ariadne prospect.
Indiana Resources (ASX:IDA) technical director Felicity Repacholi-Muir said the drilling was designed to extend the company’s knowledge of the gold potential within the fertile Lake Labyrinth Shear Zone.
“Minos and Ariadne are a key focus for our gold exploration efforts, and we look forward to seeing results from this drill programme in due course,” she added.
“Assay results are pending from the 72 aircore holes drilled within the Lake Labyrinth Shear Zone as we seek to confirm the extent of the rare earth potential of this exciting region.”
Rare earths exploration and upcoming activity
Earlier this month, the company moved to resample 72 existing drillholes after resampling of an initial six holes returned up to 15,486ppm (1.55%) total rare earth oxides hosted in ionic clays.
Importantly, high-value magnet rare earths made up 7,436ppm, or 48% of the TREO returned from the best drill intersection, lending credence to its belief that the project hosts valuable clay-hosted REEs, which are sought after for their low capital and operating costs along with high magnet and heavy REE content.
Results from the larger resampling effort will allow the company to better understand the nature of the host clays and saprolite to the shallow and high-grade REE mineralisation identified to date.
It will also characterise the extent and tenor of REE mineralisation and assist with refining initial priority target areas for follow-up testing.
On the gold front, Indiana expects assay results from the current round of drilling in late October.
This article was developed in collaboration with Indiana 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.
