Strickland marches second diamond rig into WA gold camp

Strickland Metals has kicked its drilling program into overdrive by marching a second diamond drill rig into its Horse Well gold camp that is  part of the company’s Yandal project, sitting about 85km north-east of Wiluna in the Western Australian desert.

A combined three rigs are now punching the drill bit into four prospective targets, with a co-funded State Government grant assisting with the costs of a program testing the company’s Great Western prospect.

Management says the second diamond drill rig has started testing its ground and will complement the existing diamond and reverse-circulation (RC) rigs on site. The aim is to fast-track the mapping and expansion of primary mineralised structures at its Palomino, Warmblood and Bronco prospects.

Strickland’s recent State Government exploration incentive scheme (EIS) application was approved by the Department of Energy, Mines, Industry Regulation and Safety (DMIRS) and will fund up to 50 per cent of the diamond-drill costs.

Management notes that its latest drill program at Horse Well is off and running and an eagerly-awaited 28 samples from about 25 completed drillholes has already been submitted for analysis.

Strickland Metals managing director Paul L’Herpiniere said: “We are excited to bring in a second diamond rig to fast-track our exploration efforts at Yandal, where every new drillhole is providing us with a better understanding of the significant potential of the emerging Horse Well gold camp. With samples for approximately 25 completed holes currently at the lab, we look forward to updating the market with new assay results in coming weeks.”

The company has seven rigs operating across its Yandal project and recently-acquired Rogozna gold operation in Serbia.

Strickland’s 100 per cent-owned Yandal project covers 1765 square kilometres and contains a potential 70km strike length along the Celia shear. It sits within 50km from gold titan Northern Star’s Jundee underground gold mine that has an existing resource of more than 5 million gold ounces.

Yandal features the Dusk til Dawn and Horse Well targets. The two deposits are about 20km apart, with each containing many prospects begging to see the hard edge of the drill bit.

Previous results from drilling at Horse Well’s multitude of targets produced solid hits including Palomino’s 20.3m at 1.9 grams per tonne gold from 103.6m with 7m at 4.7g/t and 21m going 1.2g/t from 108m that also featured 3m at 2.8g/t gold.

Drilling at Warmblood revealed 6m at 4g/t from 37m and 7m going 1.1g/t gold from 62m. The Bronco prospect kept the hits coming with 15.8m at 1.5g/t from 84m, 12m going 1.4g/t from 52m and a 9.2m slice assaying 1.7g/t gold from 74m.

Strickland recently purchased the Rogozna project in Serbia that has a JORC-compliant mineral resource of 2.96 million ounces of gold, 200,000 tonnes of copper and 360,000 tonnes of contained zinc.

The company’s two-pronged attack on the precious metal that global central banks are stashing away in droves may prove to be a winning combination if the gold price continues to push higher and higher. 

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