Strickland has intersected a few carats at its Yandal project prospects. Pic via Getty Images
Strickland Metals starts nibbling away at Rabbit Well gold prospect
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- 6,000m of RC drilling under way at Yandal’s Rabbit Well prospect
- Assays pending from recent exploration over Marwari, Great Western, Chetak and other targets
- Exploration at Marwari discovered a 31m intersection grading 5.6g/t gold
Special Report: An RC rig has started spinning at Strickland Metals’ Rabbit Well prospect, part of the company’s Earaheedy and Yandal projects, where 6,000m of drilling is looking to unlock a potential massive sulphide mineralisation containing copper, silver and other base metals.
After selling off its Millrose gold project to Northern Star Resources (ASX:NST) for $61m back in July last year, cashed-up gold explorer Strickland Metals (ASX:STK) has a bunch of prospects its proving up at its Earaheedy and Yandal gold projects smack bang in the middle of WA.
Recent successes at the project include a 31m intersection grading at 5.6g/t gold from 70m to the end of hole at HWAC1472 and a 5m hit of a whopping 28g/t as part of a 19-hole program at the Marwari prospect.
2024 exploration plan
An RC rig has started drilling at the Rabbit Well copper-zinc-lead-silver prospect where STK confirmed the presence of a large alteration system as it awaits assays from drilling of the Marwari, Great Western and Chetak prospects.
Although its wet season, STK thought to get a head start on exploration of its highly prospective targets ahead of major drilling campaigns which it expects to get going towards the end of the quarter when weather conditions substantially improve.
STK chief executive Andrew Bray says that after a lot of exploration work in the second half of 2023 – including numerous successes identifying new prospect areas requiring follow up exploration – the team is very excited to have drilling under way once again.
“There’s a significant list of targets that require RC drilling at both our Yandal and Earaheedy projects, with the current rig expected to start working systematically through these prospects,” he says.
“While drilling conditions can be particularly difficult during this time of year, Strickland is aiming to keep the one RC rig on site until the wet season has passed, at which point additional rigs will arrive.
“We are expecting intermittent pauses to exploration during this period (for example, a large weather system is forecast to go through the project area towards the end of the week which will delay drilling), however the rig will be operating again as soon as tracks dry out.”
The rig will initially be focused at Rabbit Well, while STK awaits assays from the balance of its diamond, RC and aircore drilling from last year’s programs.
Up to 6,000m of RC drilling has been designed at Rabbit Well, which is expected to map out the mineralisation and geology, in preparation for follow up diamond drilling.
“It’s expected a reasonable portion of the planned 6,000m will be drilled with this initial rig on site,” Bray says.
“As assays are progressively received, the company will have the flexibility to redirect the rig to other prospect areas as required.
“A number of prospects identified from AC drilling in 2023 may also be followed up by this initial RC drilling prior to the main program getting underway after the wet season.
“Heritage monitors were on site last week and a large number of drill pads have been cleared in preparation for drilling commencement.”
This article was developed in collaboration with Strickland Metals, 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.
