Mandrake Resources kicks of drilling at Berinka Pine Creek gold-copper project

• Testing gold and copper targets within 20Moz Pine Creek Orogen
• The 3,000m RC program testing several high-priority gold-copper targets
• Pine Creek experiencing renewed interest with multiple developments advancing
• Previous Berinka drilling returned significant gold-copper mineralisation

Mandrake Resources (ASX: MAN) has commenced a 3,000m reverse circulation (RC) drilling program targeting gold and copper mineralisation at the Berinka Pine Creek gold-copper project in the Northern Territory.

A comprehensive review of existing data has identified several large-scale undrilled gold-copper targets supported by compelling soil and rock geochemistry, geophysics and regional structural interpretation.

Previous drilling at Berinka focused exclusively on high-grade relatively narrow and discontinuous subvertical gold veins hosted primarily in the Proterozoic Berinka Volcanics and Ti-Tree Granophyre.

Crucially, The Berinka Project is located at a prominent “Y” junction where the Giant’s Reef Fault steps west to meet the Victoria River Fault, immediately south of the Henschke Fault. Terry’s Prospect, the most advanced prospect at Berinka, is situated at a prominent bend in the Giant’s Reef Fault. This structural setting has resulted in a series of parallel folds within the Berinka Volcanics, accompanied by a marked increase in quartz-vein density. These largely ESE-trending veins comprising the Terry’s Prospect are interpreted as a series of tension gashes associated with dextral movement of the Giant’s Reef Fault.

Existing rock and soil geochemical datasets, together with aeromagnetics and an Induced Polarisation (IP) survey undertaken in 1984 indicates distinct north-south oriented anomalism potentially associated with a series of splay faults (horsetail) emanating from the Giant’s Reef Fault to the south-east. This reinterpretation on controls on gold mineralisation has generated several high priority targets which will be tested by the forthcoming RC drilling program.

The Berinka project has been explored intermittently since the late 1960s by several companies targeting nickel, gold, copper and uranium.

The world-class +20Moz Pine Creek goldfield has seen a significant increase in gold exploration and development activities in recent times with three new carbon in leach (CIL) plants permitted for construction in the last 18 months, on top of the existing CIL plant (currently on care and maintenance) located at the famous Union Reefs deposit (Agnico Eagle).

MAN was steady at 2.0¢ . Mkt cap $12.54M.

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