THE DRILL SERGEANT: Lincoln Minerals (ASX: LML) has announced a maiden high-grade JORC Code-compliant Indicated and Inferred Mineral Resources for the company’s wholly-owned Kookaburra Gully graphite project, located on South Australia’s Eyre Peninsula.

The total Indicated and Inferred Mineral Resources for Kookaburra Gully project have been calculated at 2.25 million tonnes grading 15 per cent total graphitic carbon (TGC) with 338,000 tonnes of contained graphite at a nominal cut-off grade of 5 per cent TGC.

“The maiden JORC Code-compliant Mineral Resources at Kookaburra Gully reinforce Lincoln’s confidence in being able to quickly progress the company’s graphite resources on southern Eyre Peninsula into a high-quality, long-life graphite mining and processing operation,” Lincoln Minerals managing director Dr John Parker said in the company’s announcement to the Australian Securities Exchange.

“Drilling the Kookaburra Gully graphite project and defining over two million tonnes of mineralisation at 15 per cent TGC in this timeframe has been a fantastic result for Lincoln.”

Lincoln Minerals provided a comparison of the Kookaburra Gully project to northern hemisphere graphite projects, which it said report resources at a grade of around 2 per cent TGC saying the company resource excludes material below that grade.

The company previously announced a total Exploration Target for graphite prospects in the Kookaburra Gully following an EM survey area, which included extending Kookaburra Gully and the historic Koppio graphite mine.

 

Project location. Source: Company announcement

 

The Exploration Target was estimated to be between about 14.2 million tonnes to 42.6 million tonnes and was based on an estimated average grade in the range of 7 to 15 per cent TGC.

Lincoln explained the estimate was based on a depth extent of only 50m, however a drilling campaign carried out in January 2013 at the Kookaburra Gully site demonstrated this is likely to be a conservative estimate of what the company could be sitting on.

The company displayed its confidence in the project by claiming it to be ranked in the top 10 graphite deposits in the world in terms of the average grade of its in situ graphitic carbon content.

“The Kookaburra Gully graphite resource we have defined today is important because it only reflects information taken from 500 metres of strike,” Parker said.

“We have not drilled further south yet. Lincoln is very optimistic that drilling planned for Kookaburra Gully Extended this year will define further graphite resources.”

Lincoln Minerals has completed preliminary metallurgical studies and a scoping study for Kookaburra Gully, the results of which indicate the company will be able to produce high-quality flake graphite (greater than 95 per cent TGC).

The company anticipates its graphite mining and processing program will be globally competitive as the resource can be mined from a small open pit mine or quarry with low strip ratios.

“We are on track for a pilot-scale operation by the end of 2013, subject to finance and approvals, and we are planning to pursue full mining, production and processing of graphite through 2014,” Parker said.

THE DRILL SERGEANT: Doray Minerals (ASX: DRM) has announced a maiden, high-grade JORC-compliant gold resource for the Judy Lode, situated adjacent to the current Wilber Lode mining operations within the company’s Andy Well gold project in Western Australia.

The new Judy Lode resource follows a recent RC drilling campaign and is the second high-grade gold resource to be defined within the Andy Well project by Doray.

 

Long section of Judy Lode, showing the resource outline and highlighting recent drilling results. Source: Company announcement

 

The Judy Lode resources measures 225,000 tonnes at 9.7 grams per tonne gold for 70,000 ounces in the indicated catergory, 168,000 tonne at 6.7g/t gold for 36,000  ounces in the inferred category for a total of 393,000 tonnes at 8.4g/t gold for 106,000 ounces of gold.

Doray said the total resource includes the Judy South zone (137,000t at 19.3g/t gold for 85,000 ounces), which makes up approximately 80 per cent of the total contained ounces.

“This new high-grade Judy Lode resource, in close proximity to the future underground Wilber Lode mining operations, has the potential to add to the initial 3.7 year mine life indicated by the Bankable Feasibility Study completed in the middle of 2012,” Doray Minerals managing director Allan Kelly said in the company’s announcement to the Australian Securities Exchange.

“Before we have commenced underground mining of the Wilber Lode, we have been able to discover and drill out a second high-grade gold resource from surface.

“Importantly, based on our experience so far and, given the nature of the Judy Lode mineralisation, we believe we should be able to again achieve a high conversion rate from resource to reserve at Judy.

“This should then translate into an increased mine life at Andy Well to almost five years.”

The estimation of the Judy Lode resource increases the total Andy Well resource to 1.22 million tonnes at 11.3g/t gold for 444,000 contained ounces.

Kelly also indicated the recent drilling had provided evidence to the company for further extensions to the Wilber Lode deposit.

Between December 2012 and February 2013, Doray completed RC drilling across the Judy structure, which the company said highlighted a southerly plunge to the mineralisation, which remains open at depth and along strike south of the Judy South zone.

The company indicated other drilling conducted in the Judy South area intersected the interpreted southern extension of the Wilber Lode.

Results from this drilling include:

–    2 metres at 15.9g/t gold from 53m; and

–    1m at 13.4g/t gold from 52m.

These results extend the known Wilber mineralisation by a further 300m south of the currently defined Wilber Lode Resource area.

Doray said the latest drilling results point to the probability of a second underground mining operation at Judy.

This area is now considered by the company to be a priority exploration target for further drilling.

THE DRILL SERGEANT: Phosphate Australia (ASX: POZ) has extended gold mineralisation at the company’s 100 per cent-owned Tuckanarra gold project in Western Australia.

The extensions to gold mineralisation at Tuckanarra come via the company’s latest Phase 4 aircore drilling program, which it anticipates will further add to the resource base at the Cable-Bollard area.

Phosphate Australia recently defined a maiden Indicated and Inferred JORC resource at Tuckanarra of 2.02 million tonnes at 1.55 grams per tonne gold for 100,700 ounces of gold.

“The Board believes the Tuckanarra gold project has considerable potential for development given its shallow mineralisation, excellent metallurgical recoveries potential amenability for heap leaching and proximity to third party gold mills in the region,” Phosphate Australia said in its ASX announcement.

 

Tuckanarra gold project location, tenements and gold plants. Source: Company announcement

 

The Phase 4 drilling program was conducted with the intention of: testing extensions to the known laterite resources at Cable and at Bollard; Infill drilling at various prospects; and to test for on-strike, unmined extensions to the hard rock mineralisation at Bottle Dump.

The company indicated the drilling had increased the areas of known laterite mineralisation at Cable and Bollard, while the drilling of the Bottle Dump extension did not find any significant mineralisation.

“The Board believes the best way to add value to the Tuckanarra Project is to continue to progress the planning and permitting for a future gold mine,” Phospahte Australia said.

“With this in mind, the resource model is being updated to include the new Phase 4 drilling results with pit design to commence thereafter.

“Concurrently with this, permitting is being prepared in order to apply for a mining lease over the project.

“The Board is keen to advance and commercialise Tuckanarra as soon as possible.”

THE DRILL SERGEANT: Many exploration companies become frustrated when the market either misses or ignores releases of drilling results, especially if they’re good.

It’s easy to dismiss such announcements as noise produced by companies designed to let their shareholders know that their investments are being spent wisely, however they can tell a studious investor so much more.

Recent research released by IntierraRMG has demonstrated an interesting correlation between good drill results and a subsequent rise in share prices.

“Despite the sharp reduction in drilling activity (as reported) during the [December 2012] quarter just ended, there have been some remarkable intersections during the past few months,” IntierraRMG said in its State of the Market Report.

IntierraRMG found some of the intersections announced during the December 2012 quarter had a significant effect on the share price of the project owners.

Ten day share-price gains of over 60 per cent were recorded by Newera Resources (ASX: NRU) and Greenpower Energy (ASX: GPP) after each company had announced encouraging drilling hits from their projects at Shanagan Uul and Mirboo, respectively.

The share prices of another eight companies jumped by more than 25 per cent in the ten days following a positive drilling announcement.

Source: intierraRMG

“Indicative of the mooted exploration activity (and markets) in the final weeks of the year [2012], only one of the 28 instances of share prices rising over 12 per cent (measured ten days after an exploration announcement) was in December,” IntierraRMG found.

“There were 17 such share-price rises in October and 10 in November.

“Indeed, even this one exploration share-price spike in December was by Newera, which had set the quarter’s record price gain during the previous month.

“Despite a share-price retreat between the two drilling reports, Newera’s share price doubled; demonstrating the abiding appeal of junior stocks.”

In his 2010 tome A Shareholder’s Guide to Investing in the Australian Mining Boom, perennial junior resources company director Allan Trench provided advice regarding the effect of drilling results, or lack of, upon an investment.

“Know when to fold,” Trench said.

“Ask yourself how wrong you are prepared to be.

“If the drilling program comes and goes, and the shares fail to rise, or worse still, fall, know when to call it quits.

“Invest on anticipation that a specific trigger will ignite interest in the shares.

“If that interest does not eventuate, exit.”

Coming in at number one for copper intersections for the December quarter last year was hole drilled by OZ Minerals (ASX: OZL) on its Carrapateena project, which returned 0.90 per cent copper over 1,492m (at a depth of 609m).

In second place was Blackthorn Resources (ASX: BTR) with an assay from its Kitumba project in Zambia of 3.02 per cent copper over 220m (at 206m).

Gold is never far from the end of the driller’s bit and the best result to come in for the shiniest commodity was from Pilot Gold with its 193 grams per tonne gold, over 12m (at a depth of almost 118m) on its TV Tower project in Turkey (for a grade-intersection value of 2,316m.g/t).

In second place during the quarter was 44 grams per tonne gold over 42m by ABM Resources at the Old Pirate project in Australia, which IntierraRMG said was noteworthy due to the fact it was from surface.

 

THE DRILL SERGEANT: Castle Minerals (ASX: CDT) has reported a new zone of bedrock gold within Birimian sediments via drilling recently conducted on the company’s Wa project in north‐west Ghana.

The company undertook wide-spaced reconnaissance RAB drilling four kilometres south of recently announced Bundi gold mineralisation.

The drilling returned a best result of:

–    3 metres at 2.02 grams per tonne gold from 20 metres to end of hole.

Castle said the mineralisation appears similar to Bundi being hosted by altered quartz‐sericite schists.

“Our Wa South prospect has again produced a significant grass roots exploration intercept that justifies immediate follow up and confirms that this previously unexplored alluvial covered area is highly prospective,” Castle Minerals managing director Mike Ivey said in the company’s announcement to the Australian Securities Exchange.

“We will shortly recommence RAB drilling to fully define the target dimensions before undertaking RC drilling.”

 

Castle’s Wa Project in north‐west Ghana. Source: Company announcement

 

The drilling campaign was conducted using Castle’s own RAB drill rig.

The company now has the rig working in  other areas within its Wa gold project with a program testing 26 of more than 60 gold targets identified within the larger Wa project area.