Hi Ho, Hi Ho, it’s off to work we go
THE DRILL SERGEANT: Each week any number of junior exploration plays set out to drill their ground. Here’s a small selection of what’s been happening this week.
Browns Reef drilling commences
Kidman Resources (ASX: KDR) is poised to commence drilling at the Browns Reef prospect located in the Cobar basin of NSW.
“Since the Browns Reef project was opportunistically acquired earlier this year the technical team has undertaken a thorough review of the significant volume of historical data,” Kidman Resources managing director Shane Mele said.
“Further drilling is planned to verify this data and test the internal continuity of mineralisation so that we can proceed towards delivering a robust maiden JORC resource estimate by the end of 2014.
“Further to this, we have identified higher grade zones that remain open and require drill testing.
“These zones could potentially have a significant impact on improving the economic feasibility of the project.”
Drilling commences at Kharmagtai
Xanadu Mines (ASX: XAM) has commenced drilling at the Kharmgatai copper-gold porphyry project, located approximately 120km north of the Oyu Tolgoi copper project and 420km south‐southeast of Ulaanbaatar in Mongolia’s south Gobi region.
The Kharmagtai district consists of a cluster of porphyry prospects.
Previous exploration at Kharmagtai has delineated three shallow, gold-rich porphyry copper prospects at Altan Tolgoi, Tsagaan Sudal and Zesen Uul, and tested a number of other targets.
The mineralisation remains open at Altan Tolgoi and Tsagaan Sudal while Zesen Uul may represent an off‐faulted block from a larger system.
The drill program has been designed to test potential extensions to high‐grade mineralisation at the three prospects and identify new areas of adjacent mineralisation under shallow cover.
An initial 45 drill holes have been planned.
Drilling to commence on Narndee poly-metallic project
Maximus Resources (ASX: MXR) has received approval from the Department of Mines and Petroleum (DMP) in Western Australia for a 23 hole RC drilling program to further test its poly-metallic tenement 908 and commence testing of its 431 gold tenement on the company’s Narndee project.
The RC exploration drilling program is planned to commence mid-June with 10 holes on tenement E59/908 to test new poly-metallic targets identified during a recently completed Induced Polarization (IP) survey as well as to test previous targets.
Previous holes by Maximus intersected the targeted massive sulphide accumulations and showed vein type mineralisation in multiple samples.
This latest planned drill program aims to test these structures at depth and along strike.
On completion of the E59/908 drilling program, an additional 13 RC holes are planned to test historic gold targets.
Drilling underway at Firetower gold project
Unity Mining (ASX: UML) has diamond drilling underway at the Firetower gold project in Tasmania.
The Firetower project comprises four contiguous licences in central-north Tasmania and is subject to a Farm-In agreement with AIM-listed Greatland Gold, whereby Unity may earn a 75 per cent interest in via expenditure of $7 million.
During late 2013 and early 2014 a 3D IP ground geophysical survey was completed at the Firetower West prospect targeting copper/gold mineralisation in and around the edges of the Firetower West magnetic high.
This work followed holes drilled during 2007 and 2012 on the periphery of the anomaly which returned results including 1m at 2.65g/t gold from 97m and 1m at 0.58 per cent copper from 114m in hole FTD32, and 5m at 0.76 per cent copper from 57m including 1m at 1.44 per cent copper in hole FTD33.
Data from the 3D IP survey was modelled, which outlined a strong, relatively shallow and consistent zone of chargeability approximately 800m long and up to 400m wide.
The core of this zone will be tested with a single 300m deep diamond hole, FTD43 which is currently being drilled.
Drilling commences at Lumwana West
Argonaut Resources (ASX: ARE) has commenced the 2014 dry-season drilling program at the company’s Lumwana West copper project in Zambia.
This is the first program under the recently announced option agreement between Argonaut and a subsidiary of Antofagasta plc.
Under the agreement, a US$3.9 million exploration spend in the first year will earn Antofagasta a 25 per cent interest in the project.
The 2014 program was planned jointly by Argonaut and Antofagasta and aims to expand the known copper mineralisation at Lumwana West with focus on testing major targets previously defined in the project area by Argonaut.
“The Lumwana West project has enjoyed a remarkable technical history since exploration by Argonaut began in 2011,” Argonaut director Lindsay Owler said.
“In the course of two drilling campaigns, historical indications of copper mineralisation at Nyungu Central have been transformed into a significant deposit.
“The company has progressively refined several other major targets within the tenement including those at West Mwombezhi and Kavipopo.
“Additionally, potential repetitions and extensions to the Nyungu Central deposit have been defined.
“The drilling program, if successful, will catapult the project forward into an exciting phase where we seek to determine the limits of mineralisation and consider the priorities for resource drilling.”