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- Duke Exploration (DEX) closes green after releasing the first assay results from a drilling program at its Prairie Creek Gold Project in Queensland
- The junior explorer releases assay results from the first hole of a three-hole diamond drilling program in the area
- The hole strikes six zones of epithermal gold mineralisation from the surface to 150 metres downhole
- Duke is still awaiting assays from the other two holes drilled as part of the Prairie Creek program
- Shares in Duke Exploration close 2.13 per cent higher at 24 cents each
Duke Exploration (DEX) closed green today after releasing the first assay results from a drilling program at its Prairie Creek Gold Project in Queensland.
The junior explorer drilled three diamond holes targeting a 1.6-kilometre-long and 200-metre-wide gold soil anomaly in the project area.
Duke released the assay results from the first of these three holes today, revealing six zones of epithermal gold mineralisation struck from the surface to 150 metres down-hole.
The best intersections include a 2.3-metre hit at 4.68 grams of gold per tonne (g/t gold) from seven metres and a 20.4-metre hit at 1.86 g/t gold from 11.4 metres.
Duke said mercury and silver were associated with the gold mineralisation, suggesting the hole struck the top of an “epithermal low sulphidation gold system”.
Managing Director Philip Condon said the company’s strategy for Prairie Creek is to confirm previous exploration results from the area and evaluate the potential for an economic mining operation.
“We planned and drilled three diamond holes to achieve that goal and the assays from the first hole are the first positive glimpse of the outcomes of that programme,” Mr Condon explained.
“The first hole has provided encouraging geological information that the depth potential at Prairie Creek may be significant and untested.”
The company is still awaiting assays from the other two holes drilled as part of the Prairie Creek program. Duke said it expects to receive all assays from the Prairie Creek drilling program by the end of October.
Mr Condon said in the meantime, the drilling rig has moved on to the Mt Flora prospect at the Bundarra Project, also in Queensland.
Looking ahead, the company said it planned to finalise the timing of step-out reverse circulation (RC) resource drilling at Mt Flora to test new mineralisation in the northern area of the project.
Duke also plans to complete soil sampling work and collect important geophysical data from the Bandarra project.
Shares in Duke Exploration closed 2.13 per cent higher at 24 cents each. The company has a $21.2 million market cap.
