ASX-listed Strickland Metals has obtained heritage clearance from Tarlka Matuwa Piarku Aboriginal Corporation for almost all of its planned exploration throughout 2022. Obtaining heritage clearance was the final critical step towards commencing exploration at its Yandal project and for the planned resource extensional drilling at its Millrose prospect.
The company says a reverse circulation drill rig is due on site in the coming days and will launch immediately into the planned resource extensional drilling at Millrose. A diamond rig is expected to arrive soon after, with a second RC rig scheduled to appear in March. Notably, the rigs will remain at the project for the entirety of the year.
The Millrose resource expansion program will comprise of 20,000 metres of RC and 8,000m of diamond drilling.
The priority for Millrose is infill drilling of the ‘gap’ between the southern and northern resource domains and Strickland says this domain is prospective for both supergene and primary gold. Additionally, along strike extensions to the north and south that have been identified in the geophysical and geochemical datasets will be prioritised for early drilling.
Other drill priorities include testing depth extensions with a focus on the high-grade domains to understand the underground mining potential, further definition of the extensive, near-surface laterite mineralisation and testing of parallel trends to the west of the main defined shear zone.
The program will be complemented with a mineral resource upgrade Strickland says is likely bolster the existing resource significantly. Following the upgrade, management says the company will consider the commencement of a scoping study for the development of the resource.
Strickland Chief Executive Officer Andrew Bray said, “Obtaining heritage clearance was the final step needed prior to commencing the major drilling campaigns we’ve previously flagged to the market. We are now set commence as originally scheduled, with an RC rig and a diamond rig arriving this week. A further RC rig will be added in March 2022.”
“All three rigs will remain at our Yandal Project for the entirety of 2022. The main priorities of the program are to complete the Millrose resource extensional drilling (and subsequent Mineral Resource upgrade), as well as focusing on the ‘look-a-like’ targets surrounding Dusk til Dawn and within the Big Daddy trend.”
The heritage survey was conducted last November at the company’s flagship Yandal project and started at the southernmost end of the tenure before working northwards during the survey period. Numerous targets around Dusk til Dawn and within the Big Daddy trend were also cleared, however due to time constraints, a survey was not able to be completed at Iroquois. Strickland says it will shortly request a further survey from that includes Iroquois and several other priority prospect areas.
The company’s recent drilling intersected a flurry of gold hits that extend the mineralisation down-dip at its Dusk til Dawn prospect, located in the prospective north Yandal greenstone belt that runs parallel to Northern Star’s 10 million ounce plus juggernaut Jundee gold mine. Recent assay results include 10m grading 3.1 grams per tonne gold from 314m downhole, 11m going 2.0 g/t gold from 249m and 6m at 1.3 g/t gold from 262m downhole.
Importantly, last year’s drilling identified a large alteration corridor to the north and south of Dusk til Dawn. A similar corridor has also been identified on the parallel Big Daddy trend to the east. There are up to twenty similar gravity features in the corridor and Strickland believes they could be areas of more intense alteration. If the Dusk til Dawn model repeats throughout both corridors, it is potentially an exciting discovery and demonstrates a project with very large-scale possibility.
An external study was also conducted on the alteration assemblages of the six drillholes and found the central biotite-rich potassic alteration zone is broad, suggesting significant fluid flow in the area, potentially creating the framework for a very large mineralisation system.
Strickland is fully funded with nearly all approvals and clearances in place and 2022 is shaping up as a major milestone year in the company’s development. With recent geological interpretations looking like they are on the money in an area that has previously experienced only hap-hazard exploration, Strickland could be paving the way to a sizeable gold portfolio with numerous high priority targets only a short trucking distance from the colossal Jundee gold mine.
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By Matt Birney
