Strickland Metals has kicked off 2025 with a bang after the latest diamond drilling results picked up strong depth extensions to the mineralisation at its Shanac gold-copper skarn deposit within the company’s Rogozna gold-base metal project in Serbia.
The newly reported results came from a single hole to target the underexplored southern extent of the central structural domain within the deposit. They included a 30.1m intercept grading 1.6g/t gold equivalent from 438.9m and an 11.7m section grading 4.3g/t gold equivalent from 570.4m, within an 80.2m hit running at 1.9g/t gold equivalent from 501.9m.
The findings confirm the Shanac mineralisation - which starts at a depth of 250 metres – now extends down to at least 625m and remains open, and prove up a width of 180m. Armed with the new data, the company says it is firmly on track for a resource upgrade on the deposit by late March.
Strickland Metals managing director Paul L'Herpiniere said: “Importantly, this hole has defined significant vertical extensions of the mineralisation and bodes well for the mineral resource estimate update for Shanac. This will be one of several mineral resource upgrades, which are scheduled for this year at Rogozna and our Yandal project in Western Australia.”
The 4.63-million-ounce gold equivalent Shanac deposit is a cornerstone of Strickland’s Rogozna project. Another nearby skarn-hosted deposit, Copper Canyon, contributes a further 810,000 ounces of gold equivalent to bring the total resource of Rogozna to 5.44 million ounces of gold equivalent.
The company is gearing up to release a resource update for Shanac as well as a maiden resource for another prospect, Medenovac. This target caused a buzz late last year after drilling revealed a remarkable 40.3m intercept grading 2.6g/t gold, including a standout 12m section at 5.7g/t gold from a depth of 584m.
Additionally, final assays are expected back shortly from the company’s fourth skarn-hosted deposit at Rogozna, called Gradina. The results for the high-grade, gold-only prospect are highly anticipated and could prove pivotal in light of previous compelling assays, reported only a month ago.
These results included a 25.5m section grading 5.2g/t, which is part of a wider 48.5m intercept grading 3.1g/t from 194m. Importantly, the hit looks to have intersected a shallower part of a lode that appears to stretch down to 600m, previously identified from a hole which hit 11.5m grading 13.1g/t.
Strickland Metals is set to ramp up exploration at its Serbian grounds in March, launching a six-rig diamond drilling campaign aimed at unlocking the full potential of the Shanac deposit.
High on its agenda are plans to target the continuity and extent of high-grade gold-only zones previously unearthed in the central domain.
These assays included an eye-watering 89.7m intercept grading 4.0g/t gold from 244.5m and a 40.9m section also running at 4g/t gold from 241.6m, hinting at even greater treasures lying beneath the surface.
Coupled with updates to the resource at Shanac and a maiden resource at Medenovac both anticipated in late-March, the recent results appear to provide compelling data pointing the way to Rogozna developing into something much bigger.
Add the magic ingredients of a gold price on the tear right now, currently trading at US$2723 (A$4359) per ounce and the equally exciting West Australian Yandal gold project - with the potential to be another multi-million-ounce development - Strickland appears to be signalling it has a golden future.
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By James Pearson
