Pilbara gold pioneer Artemis is flying after announcing three new discoveries

Pilbara explorer Artemis Resources has made three more gold discoveries within 30km of its Radio Hill processing plant.

The stock rose 14 per cent to 16c — though that’s still well down on the 59c it touched at the peak of the Pilbara gold nugget rush last year.

Artemis and Canadian partner Novo Resources kicked off a mini gold nugget rush in the Pilbara in mid-2017 after a legendary announcement regarding a gold nugget find at their Purdy’s Reward site south of Karratha, WA.

Since then most of the Pilbara gold stocks have cooled, however, as the explorers work on economically viable extraction strategies.

Artemis (ASX:ARV) found up to 11.4 grams per tonne gold in rock chip samples across a 4.5km long surface anomaly at the ‘Patterson’s Hut’ prospect. It also found samples up to 5 grams per tonne across 14km at ‘Ruth Well North’, and a number of nuggets across two 1km trends at its ‘Pipeline’ target.

Anything above 5 grams per tonne is considered high grade.

The three gold targets were discovered using surface geochemical (rock and soil) sampling.

Exploring an area using geochemical sampling is an effective way to identify an area of mineralisation prior to drilling — which is more expensive — for more accurate targeting.

Artemis also identified new extensions at the existing gold targets, Silica Hills and Nickol River.

The Artemis (ASX:ARV) share price has traded between 13c and 59c over the past year.

Artemis boss Ed Mead said the survey showed the potential for gold deposits just a short trucking distance from its Radio Hill gold processing plant.

“Karratha, until recently, has remained relatively unexplored for its gold potential,” he said.

“The use of ionic geochemical analysis techniques in conjunction with traditional geochemical sampling has helped Artemis identify numerous new targets and projects, such as Carlow Castle and Purdy’s Reward.”