Okapi clinches NSW gold project deal

ASX-listed gold explorer, Okapi Resources, has picked up an “underexplored” historic gold project 30 kilometres south-east of Armidale near the historic Hillgrove antimony-gold mine in north-eastern NSW in a cash-and-scrip deal. The company says the Enmore gold project already boasts a couple of walk-up drill targets brimming with high-grade gold values from drilling and rock chip sampling work done by previous owners.

Perth-based Okapi acquired the 135-square-kilometre Enmore exploration licence in the New England Fold Belt for $100,000 cash and $200,000 worth of its shares from Providence Gold and Minerals, subject to shareholder approval.

Under further terms of the transaction, additional cash or share payments of $300,000 and $400,000 will be triggered down the track by various exploration milestones being met including a minimum exploration expenditure of $200,000 and 1,000m of RC drilling. A two per cent net smelter royalty is also attached to the acquisition agreement.

Okapi says the main prospects on the Enmore goldfield – the small but high-grade old Bora, Sherwood and Sunnyside gold mines – have been delineated by the presence of continuous lode-style mineralisation over strike extents of up to 600m. The strike extent of three major north-west- trending lode structures associated with gold mineralisation and historical workings may extend as far as 2.6km based on historical interpretations.

Between 1974 and 2016, a total of 213 diamond, RC and percussion holes for an aggregate 11,323m were drilled at several prospects at Enmore.

Okapi noted an abundance of historic intercepts from Bora over the period of more than 40 years, with stand-outs including 13m grading 7.1 grams per tonne gold from 85m including 4m at 20.6 g/t from 93m, 4.8m at 6.0 g/t from 90.7m. 4m at 4.2 g/t from 102m.

Other notable assay results highlighted were 7m at 4.6 g/t from 15.5m including 4m at 7.0 g/t, 7m at 4.1 g/t from 65m including 1m at 9.6 g/t, and 2m at 5.5 g/t from 144.6m including 1m at 9.3 g/t.

Some of the better historic drill intersections from nearby Sunnyside were 4m going 11.94 g/t gold from surface, 20m at 1.7 g/t from 18m including 4m at 4.4 g/t, 2m at 14.6 g/t from 46m, and 10m at 2.8 g/t from surface including 2m at 6.2 g/t.

During the four-decade period there were also widespread occurrences of high-grade gold returned from historic rock chip and underground workings samples.

Drilling has not adequately tested the Bora prospect and mineralisation potential is considered open in all directions, according to Okapi.  A further technical review of this prospect will involve 3D interpretation to identify the potential plunge direction of mineralised shoots and or repeat shoot formations.

Much of the historic exploration at Enmore was focused on the open-pittable mineralisation potential there. Okapi suggests its initial due diligence of available data relating to underground potential indicated limited systematic exploration testing of higher-grade gold reefs within the broader structural lodes.

Okapi Resources Chairman, Rhoderick Grivas said: “This (the acquisition of Enmore) allows Okapi shareholders to gain access to an exciting, underexplored gold project that brings significant value potential to the company. Okapi has undertaken preliminary due diligence and identified targets with significant scale potential that are ready for further exploration to refine drill targeting in the short term.”

Okapi says gold mineralisation at the Enmore project area occurs in an analogous geological setting to the nearby historic Hillgrove gold-antimony mine, where Melbourne-based Red River Resources is planning to restart production.

The Enmore lode and vein mineralisation styles are ideally suited, Okapi says, to definition using 3D electrical geophysics techniques and model inversions.

In conjunction with its project acquisition, Okapi has successfully shaken the tin for $2.5 million in a capital raise that will allow the company to hit the ground running on proposed exploration at Enmore.

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