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Strickland launches major drilling next door to Rumble’s Earaheedy zinc-lead discovery
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A 8,500m reverse circulation (RC) drill program has just kicked off at the flagship Yandal project, with a focus on the ‘Dusk til Dawn’ (gold) and ‘Iroquois’ (zinc, lead) targets.
Hard drilling explorer Strickland Metals (ASX:STK) now has two rigs on site; an aircore rig, which is about two-thirds the way through an expanded 15,000m program, and the RC rig.
The map below show the location of the current drilling programs at Iroquois, Dusk til Dawn and Horse North, with Rumble Resources’ (ASX:RTR) Earaheedy targets immediately along strike in yellow:
The discovery at the ‘Chinook’ prospect sparked a 320% increase in Rumble’s share price, but the explorer believes it is “just at the start of uncovering [its] scale”.
RC drilling at Dusk til Dawn, Iroquois
RC drilling is underway, with an expanded planned 8,500m to be drilled over the coming three months.
The focus of the program will be at Dusk til Dawn (and regional lookalike targets), as well as Iroquois.
At Iroquois, assays from the recently completed soil and rock chip sampling program show an extensive +1,000-metre-long lead, zinc and copper anomaly that corresponds with the mineralised rock chip samples.
The mineralisation has all the characteristics of a classic MVT (Mississippi Valley Type) ore deposit, Strickland says.
Previous drilling results at Dusk til Dawn are impressive, and include:
- 13m @ 8.8g/t gold from 111m
- 14m @ 10.0g/t gold from 50m and 14m @ 2.6g/t gold from 92m
- 30m @ 2g/t gold from 144m incl 12m @ 3.5g/t gold
The company believes the mineralisation is completely open at depth. The planned holes will drill ‘down dip’ from the above results.
A study conducted in 2014 suggested there was potential for a very large mineralisation system at Dusk til Dawn. Following on from this interpretation, there are several regional lookalike gravity features along strike that draw strong parallels to the prospect.
Historic shallow drilling above these features has also intersected the same outer alteration assemblage, Strickland says.
The drilling has been progressing “exceedingly well” with assays due to flow in during the next quarter.
Aircore drilling at Horse North
Aircore drilling – increased from an initial 10,000m to a current planned 15,000m program — has been predominantly focused on the Horse North gold prospect.
It is targeting a 3km section of the ‘Celia Shear’ zone that has previously been ineffectively drill tested, Strickland says.
This is the same mineralised structure which hosts the existing Horse Prospect with inferred Mineral Resources of 148,100oz gold.
Drilling is about two-thirds complete.
Growing the 346,000oz Millrose resource
Outside of ‘on the ground’ exploration, the company has also been undertaking a thorough review of the exploration potential around the Millrose Mineral Resource, chief exec Andrew Bray says.
“Millrose currently hosts a 346,000oz Mineral Resource, and the company is forming the view that substantial gold ounces can be added very quickly to the existing inventory,” he says.
“Large areas of gold mineralisation have been intersected in aircore drilling only, and these have not been included in past resource calculations.
“Furthermore, the existing mineralisation is totally open along strike and at depth.
“The company will release a summary next week of its planned programs at Millrose, highlighting the fantastic opportunity that exists there to rapidly grow the resource.”
This article was developed in collaboration with Strickland, 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.
