Podium has good reason to be feeling warm and fuzzy after Stage 10 drilling at its Parks Reef project in WA’s Mid-West region returned results at the upper end of expectations.
Assays from the initial four of 35 reverse circulation holes drilling in the program intercepted the targeted platinum group metals reef on plan at a vertical depth of ~150m, enabling extension of the resource depth to 250m.
All four intercepts also delivered grades within the expected range with the standout being PRRC201 with a 34m interval grading 0.72 grams per tonne (g/t) platinum, 0.72g/t palladium and 0.07g/t gold (1.77g/t 3E PGM) from a depth of 76m.
Podium is hugely excited that the best of the intercepts includes a very exciting Significant High Grade 1m zone at 12.65g/t 3E PGM from 109m.
Importantly for Podium Minerals (ASX:POD), the holes confirm the extension of Parks Reef mineralisation into the exploration target area, which has been estimated at between 70Mt and 75Mt grading from 1.2g/t 3E PGM to 1.6g/t 3E PGM for between 2.7Moz to 3.8Moz 3E PGM.
Meanwhile, assays from Stage 9 drilling continue to deliver strong results such as 22m at 2.04g/t 3E PGM from 17m that highlight the continuity of near-surface mineralisation.
“Initial holes informing the Exploration Target have all intersected the PGM reef, illustrating high grade zones and significant ore-body widths along a target that is shaping up to have sufficient size to be globally significant,” managing director Sam Rodda says.
“These recent results indicate that mineralisation extends to 250m depth, and our previous deep drilling has shown the mineralisation presents at 500m and is open beyond.
“The consistent nature of the mineralisation across the 15km extent gives the company confidence that Parks Reef is a massive 5E PGM opportunity.”
He added that the company has already started planning the next stage of exploration to a depth of about 350m which will be followed by further tight-space infill drilling to build geological confidence in the identified higher-grade zones.
This work will contribute to a Scoping Study that will support the company’s goal of becoming Australia’s first PGM-focused producer.
Building out resources
The Stage 10 drilling of 50 holes totalling 9,015m is aimed at proving the enlarged exploration target, which could easily double the current Inferred resource of 2.8Moz 3E PGM.
While 35 holes were drilled to the full intercept length, the remaining 15 holes stopped short of planned reef intercepts due to swelling clays and fibrous intercepts.
These holes will be extended with diamond core tails to achieve full reef intercepts and enable full conversion of the exploration target into Inferred resources.
A diamond core rig is scheduled to arrive on site this week to complete the remaining 650m of the drill program.
This article was developed in collaboration with Podium Minerals, 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.