Strickland expands WA gold hunt for fresh intrusive-related targets

Strickland Metals has turned up the heat at its Yandal gold project in Western Australia’s northern Goldfields by expanding a key gravity survey to chase down a string of new intrusion-related gold (IRG) targets across a juicy 19-kilometre stretch of prospective ground.

The move follows the company’s recent discovery of IRG-style mineralisation near its 109,000-ounce Dusk ‘til Dawn gold find and could set the stage for a new pipeline of high-impact drill targets. 

The discovery of a new style of gold-bearing structure came in March after the company spent several months looking over the data from geochemical and geophysical work.

The analysis confirmed two sizeable, mineralised corridors - rich in gold, molybdenum, copper, bismuth and tellurium—stretching across a 7.5km strike previously only lightly explored. Re-logging of historical drill chips revealed key alteration minerals, such as chlorite, K-feldspar and epidote, hinting at strong hydrothermal activity. 

Expert interpretations by geochemist Nigel Brand and geophysicist Barry Bourne suggest the scale and chemistry of the system indicate significant fluid flow, pointing to the presence of a large gold system.

Armed with the latest information, Strickland planned a new geophysical survey, with tight 50-metre line spacings, across 9km of the structural corridor immediately to the south of the Dusk ‘til Dawn camp. 

An original high-resolution survey focused on a 10km stretch further south and running north of the company’s Horse Well camp. The recent work has, therefore, filled the gap between the two camps, bringing the total strike length under investigation to a hefty 19km.

The newly targeted ground sits in a prime position and bears all the hallmarks of the intrusion-related gold (IRG) system already unearthed at Dusk ‘til Dawn. It features the same type of low-density gravity anomalies that led to earlier successes, plus a scattering of historic gold hits that suggest there may be much more lurking just below surface.

Strickland says it is aiming to replicate the Dusk ‘til Dawn discovery model across the new ground and is resampling historical 1990s drill chips and has fresh multi-element geochemical assays now underway. Alteration mapping is also being completed and the results - combined with high-resolution gravity modelling - are expected to shape the next generation of targets by June.

Strickland Metals executive technical director Richard Pugh said: “Since the discovery of IRG mineralisation at the Dusk ‘til Dawn gold camp, Strickland has been assessing the potential for additional IRG lookalike targets within its Yandal portfolio.”

When the modelling and analysis are wrapped up, the company plans to launch a diamond drilling campaign to test the IRG system at Dusk ‘til Dawn - marking the first time the undercover prospect will have been put to the test with the drill bit. This will be a major step forward in unravelling the true potential of what’s shaping up to be a compelling gold target.

The company’s expanded gold hunt has also caught the eye of the WA government, which is now throwing its support behind the company with a co-funded drilling grant. The backing comes under the State’s Exploration Incentive Scheme and will help bankroll the first drill holes into the newly identified targets.

Strickland already sits on a sizeable 400,400-ounce inferred gold resource across its broader Yandal project. Key deposits include the 129,500-ounce Palomino complex, the 126,000-ounce Warmblood prospect, and the 108,900 ounces already defined at Dusk ‘til Dawn.

The company’s project area spans 70 square kilometres of prospective greenstone rock along the Celia shear zone. It is also just 50km north of Northern Star Resources’ huge 10-million-ounce Jundee gold project.

Beyond Strickland’s exploration work in Australia, the company has been focusing on its Rogozna gold and base metal project in Serbia. 

A recent resource upgrade to 7.3M gold equivalent ounces, coupled with an aggressive 50,000m diamond drilling program, has piqued the interest of Chinese resource giant Zijin Mining, which lobbed $5M into the kitty for 55M shares, representing 2.4 per cent of the company’s register.

Not surprisingly, the move has attracted widespread interest in the company’s activities, and if the gossip is true, it may have also attracted some corporate interest in one of Strickland’s Serbian neighbours. 

Adriatic Metals, with a current ore reserve of 12.3 million tonnes at 192 grams per tonne (g/t) silver, 5.7 per cent zinc, 3.6 per cent lead, 1.5 g/t gold and 0.5 per cent copper, has been subject to some heavy buying overnight. The company’s share price surged 25 per cent on the back of rumours of an imminent takeover. 

Strickland is cashed up and ready to roll, with $34.8M in the bank at the end of March and a further $5M investment from major shareholder Zijin since then.

With drilling plans nearly finalised, gravity data rolling in and assay results on the horizon, Strickland looks to be assembling a powerful playbook for cracking Yandal’s undercover IRG code - and the next round of news could be golden.

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