Special Report: Viking Mines has hit the ground running at its First Hit gold project near Kalgoorlie, kicking off exploration work and securing a drill contractor.
The move comes just days after the formal acquisition of Red Dirt Mining – the now wholly-owned subsidiary of Viking (ASX:VKA), which holds the First Hit project.
The company has an aggressive exploration and advancement strategy in mind for First Hit and has wasted no time in designing a drill program, securing its drilling contractors and completing a gravity survey across its tenements in the region.
The drill contractors will carry out a first phase 2,500m diamond drilling (DD) program and around 6,000m of regional aircore (AC)drilling, starting in the current quarter.
Viking CEO Julian Woodcock said he was pleased with the speed of progress at First Hit.
“With the completion of the acquisition of Red Dirt Mining and the First Hit project, I am excited that we have made significant advancements to get on the ground quickly and rapidly advance our exploration activity,” he said.
“The delivery of the DD and AC programmes will allow Viking to quickly expand our knowledge of the First Hit project pipeline, and with successful results deliver value to shareholders via the drill bit.”
Viking said follow up phases of AC and diamond drilling were being planned and may continue directly after the phase one programmes once the initial results have been received and assessed.
Woodcock, an experienced exploration geologist with involvement in some of Australia’s biggest gold finds of recent times, talked Stockhead through his exploration philosophies last month.
The exploration details
Multiple fieldwork programs are being planned to rapidly assess and test the First Hit area, with plans for them to run concurrently.
These will test underground mine extensions at First Hit, start exploration work looking for additional mineralised gold shoots across the tenement, and enhance Viking’s understanding of the geology.
Results from the gravity survey are expected early this month, and will help Viking in the detailed regional geological interpretation of the project that is currently underway, ultimately allowing it to identify and prioritise targets and understand the controls of the mineralisation.
According to the company, the diamond drilling will:
- Test for extensions of mineralisation along strike and down plunge;
- Drill in between existing mined stopes to test remnant mineralisation;
- Test the structural and lode model which has been developed;
- Test the hanging wall geology to gain an understanding of the mineralised controls;
- Determine the geochemical fingerprint of mineralisation to assist in a regional AC program interpretation to identify the mineralised structures.
Meanwhile, the first phase AC program will test the First Hit tenements on a nominal 400m by 50m drill spacing.
This program is currently being evaluated in conjunction with new information obtained from geological assessment and the new gravity dataset.
It is expected to be phased and prioritised to test the most prospective parts of the tenure first and incorporate around 300 holes for 6,000m of drilling.
Viking said the main objective of the AC program was to build the understanding of the geology and vector towards follow-up bedrock targets, with a view to identifying and tracing the structures which host First Hit’s mineralisation.
Samples will be tested for both gold and other pathfinder elements to identify fertile structures, which will then be followed up with reverse circulation or diamond drilling.
While AC drilling is expected to provide immediate follow-up targets, applying the geochemical data from diamond drilling will allow the company to define broader halo anomalies of other pathfinder anomalies.
This will allow the company to identify vectors towards narrower high-grade gold footprints that may not be tested by the broader spacing of AC drilling.
Viking holds seven tenements covering ~28km2 in the Eastern Goldfields, including five contiguous tenements, one of which hosts the historic First Hit gold mine, and two satellite tenements – one to the north and another under application 11km south-southeast of the mine.
The company announced its plans to acquire First Hit in November last year. The project is 150km northwest of Kalgoorlie, with four operating mills in a 100km radius.
This article was developed in collaboration with Viking Mines, 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.