Strickland Metals has jagged a massive 7.5-kilometre-long intrusion-related gold system near its 109,000-ounce Dusk ’til Dawn gold deposit, which is part of the company’s wider Yandal project in Western Australia’s Eastern Goldfields.
Strickland spent several months pouring over new geophysics and geochemical analysis of the area before overlaying the findings with historic exploration data.
The findings confirmed two large distinct gold, molybdenum, copper, bismuth and tellurium mineralised corridors within a 7.5km strike, which was previously only lightly tested with shallow air core drilling.
The company also re-logged bottom-of-hole drill chips from the old samples and found evidence of minerals such as chlorite - a common alteration product of biotite - K-feldspar, epidote within quartz and pyrite.
Strickland commissioned well-respected geochemist Nigel Brand and seasoned geophysicist Barry Bourne to interpret the findings. Both believe the combination of these tell-tale elements, together with the sheer scale and intensity of the zone, suggests a substantial fluid flow that points to a large gold system.
Strickland Metals managing director Paul L'Herpiniere said: “The work of the Strickland team in defining these promising new gold corridors highlights the extraordinary potential of the Yandal ground to continue delivering value for the company.”
Management says it is confident it has discovered a large hydrothermal intrusive-related gold system. The area is already known to contain high-grade gold, with standout drill results including 33 metres grading 3.6 grams per tonne gold from 61m depth.
Given the main target area has never been drilled, the company believes there is a high chance that a lot more gold is still to be found.
The mineralisation unearthed so far at Dusk ‘til Dawn appears to come from a south-western splay off the main structure strikingly similar to the massive 20-million-ounce, Newmont-owned Boddington gold deposit 130 km southeast of Perth.
The project area is in a top-shelf address, 60km north of the huge 10m-ounce Jundee gold mine owned by ASX-listed gold major Northern Star Resources.
As with Boddington, Strickland’s new eastern Goldfields targets sit on the edge of the Yilgarn Craton. Both projects share the same promising geological structures, including biotite-silica zones, geochemical signatures and geophysical traits.
Armed with the expertly validated findings, Strickland has immediately started drawing up plans to run a high-resolution gravity survey over the grounds.
The survey will help the company pinpoint drill hole positioning before bringing in the truth detector for an initial eight-hole diamond drill program, which will provide the first true test of the deeper parts of the system.
Strickland has $33.8 million in cash and Northern Star Resources shares as of the end of the December quarter, putting it in a strong financial position to execute its ambitious drilling campaign.
The stage set is now set for what could be a transformative exploration campaign this year. Punters will likely keep a close eye on progress at Dusk ‘til Dawn as Strickland Metals seeks to turn a highly prospective geological model into a potential monster gold discovery.
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By James Pearson
