Middle Island Kicks Off Major Sandstone Drilling Campaign
THE DRILL SERGEANT: Middle Island Resources (ASX: MDI) has commenced the first in a planned series of drilling programs to be undertaken at the company’s 100 per cent-owned Sandstone gold project in Western Australia.
Middle Island Resources explained the drilling will collectively comprise a major exploration and resource definition drilling campaign at the Sandstone gold project and will target around 17 identified prospects and deposits within the company’s existing Sandstone tenure.
The primary objective of the drilling campaign is to confirm (and/or identify) and quantify additional open pit gold deposits and deposit extensions to supplement existing Mineral Resources prior to completing, in the June quarter, an update of the pre-feasibility study (PFS) commenced in the December quarter of 2019.
The 17 identified open pit gold targets and deposit extensions have been prioritised following a detailed internal and external technical review with the majority located on existing permitted tenure (M57/128 & M57/129) and all within five kilometres of the company’s 600,000 tonnes per annum gold processing plant.
“Commencing 2020 with around $2.8 million in cash, either at bank or fully underwritten, provides a rare opportunity to realise a long-held ambition to deploy significant drilling metres across a multitude of targets that have remained untested (or poorly tested) due to previous financial constraints,” Middle Island Resources managing director Rick Yeates said in the company’s announcement to the Australian Securities Exchange.
“The planned multi-phase drilling campaign has the potential to add significant open pit Mineral Resources to the Sandstone gold project.
“With the Australian dollar gold price near record levels, any additional Mineral Resources identified during the drilling campaign should significantly enhance the outcome of the updated PFS, which is planned to recommence in the June quarter of 2020, hopefully leading to a positive recommissioning decision once completed.
“Middle Island Directors acknowledge Mr Stephen Copulos and his associates for their vision in identifying, not only the more immediate gold production scenario, but endorsing a broader vision to create a significant regional gold processing hub, centred on Middle Island’s Sandstone processing plant, via cornerstone investments in the recent and current capital raisings.
“By its very nature, results from initial AC drilling are unlikely to generate significant excitement, however it is reasonable to anticipate more significant results from the subsequent Phase 1 RC drilling program.”
Email: info@middleisland.com.au
