Okapi poised to probe NSW gold ground

ASX-listed Okapi Resources is poised to unleash the diamond drill bit at its Enmore gold project in northern New South Wales after scoring a string of “exceptional” hits in a maiden drilling campaign at the venture late last year. The 11-hole program will follow up on previous work at the Sunnyside prospect, that the company says remains open at depth and along strike.

Previous work at Sunnyside coughed up a three-metre section going 8.86 grams per tonne gold with a richer 1 metre inclusion at 15.15 g/t gold from 172m.

Okapi says earlier drilling indicated the prospects’ mineralisation was plunging to the east along the Sunnyside fault and the targets struck in previous exploits had bolstered the theory.

The anticipated campaign will look to dive deeper and assess the metal accumulation along strike and down dip and also drill beneath a zone of existing near surface oxide mineralisation.

According to Okapi, the looming probe could shore up the project's structural and lithological dataset and assist in understanding of the prospect’s mineralisation controls.

The company believes the latter could boost future drill programs by building a clearer understanding of where the mineral-laden pockets are positioned.

Management says it will also look to drill test the nearby Sherwood prospect and probe beneath the zone’s historical high-grade gold mineralisation, where previous explorers intersected a 0.6m hit going 56.84 g/t gold from just over 60m.

According to the company, it will sink nine holes at the Sunnyside prospect and a brace at Sherwood.

The planned drilling program was developed in conjunction with Geos Mining, a geological consultancy that completed a data review and site visit earlier this year.

Okapi’s Enmore tenure takes in over 100 square kilometres of ground along the New England Fold Belt, some 30km south of the regional centre of Armidale.

According to the company, Enmore draws geological comparisons to the fruitful Hillgrove gold mine that lies some 20km to the north. Hillgrove boasts past production figures in excess of 730,000 ounces of gold.

Okapi says previous exploration at Enmore has been limited to shallow drilling and the majority of its targets have yet to be tested at depth.

The Perth-based company has been focused on advancing its North American Uranium ventures of late and the decision to progress its precious metal enterprises closer to home could set up Okapi for a busy year ahead.

With high-grade gold potential at Enmore, a very prospective patch of uranium ground in the United States and the prices of the two commodities flying, Okapi may soon find itself with an enviable portfolio of in-vogue assets.

Is your ASX-listed company doing something interesting? Contact: matt.birney@businessnews.com.au