Mandrake’s next trick could be an NT gold discovery

Special Report: Mandrake Resources’ recent focus has been on the Jimperding project 70km northeast of Perth, where it is hoping to make a nickel-copper-PGE discovery in the vein of Chalice Gold Mines’ nearby Julimar find.

But the company also holds a promising gold project in the Northern Territory that is set for some attention with a new drilling program starting this week.

Mandrake is undertaking 1,350m of reverse circulation (RC) drilling at the Berinka Pine Creek Gold Project to follow up strong gold anomalies derived from historic soil, rock chip and trench sampling across four separate prospects.

Previous RC drilling at the Terry’s prospect at Berinka intersected gold mineralisation associated with sulphide-rich veins, with a best intersection of 4m @ 6.56 g/t gold from a depth of 32m.

The current drilling program, which started on Monday, is expected to take two weeks to complete. Assay results are likely to be announced later this month.

Berinka covers 289km² in the Pine Creek Orogen, a well-known goldfield in the NT where Kirkland Lake Gold and Hanking Mining also have significant projects.

Meanwhile, Mandrake is close to commencing with the first of a series of electromagnetic surveys at Jimperding that will aid in identifying EM conductors for drill testing.

The company announced in late July that a sampling program at the Newleyine prospect had provided an increased level of confidence that Jimperding hosts a large nickel-copper-PGE system like Julimar.

“The ultramafics at Newleyine are more extensive than first recognised and carry a similar Ni-Cu-PGE metal signature as Chalice’s Julimar discovery,” Mandrake managing director James Allchurch said at the time.

“An electromagnetic geophysical survey followed by focused drilling is planned to test this newly recognised Ni-Cu-PGE system at Newleyine.”

Mandrake can earn a 51% interest in the 140km² Jimperding exploration licence application (ELA) by spending $100,000 on exploration and can increase its interest to 80% by spending a further $200,000.

The ELA was applied for on 4 March this year, prior to the announcement of the Julimar discovery hole and prior to Chalice pegging more than 2,000km² of ground in the region.

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

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