Southern Palladium (ASX:SPD) awards drilling contract for Bengwenyama

• Southern Palladium (SPD) awards a drilling contract to Geomech Africa for exploration at its Bengwenyama Platinum Group Metal (PGM) project in South Africa
• A 63-hole diamond drilling program will begin at the project in mid-July with a focus on the shallowest portion of the 18.8 million ounce inferred mineral resource estimate
• Phase two will drilling will then be undertaken to improve the confidence in the project area and potentially allow for more accurate life-of-mine planning in the long term
• Phase one is expected to be completed in eight to nine months while phase two will be completed in four to five months
• Southern Palladium ends the day 4.38 per cent in the red with shares trading at 76.5 cents

Southern Palladium (SPD) has awarded a drilling contract to Geomech Africa for exploration at its Bengwenyama Platinum Group Metal (PGM) project in South Africa.

Further, geological services will be provided by South African-based mining and exploration consultancy, Minxcon.

A 63-hole, for 24,464 metres, diamond drilling program will begin at Bengwenyama in mid-July with a focus on the shallowest portion of the 18.8 million ounce inferred mineral resource estimate within the Upper Group 2 and Merensky reefs.

The program will be completed in two phases, both of which have been designed from a detailed assessment of previously drilled holes and target structures.

Once received, results from the phase one program will be used in scoping and pre-feasibility studies which are expected to form the basis of a mining right application.

Following phase one drilling, phase two will begin to potentially support an upgrade to the mineral resource.

Phase two will improve the confidence in the project area and potentially allow for more accurate life-of-mine planning in the long term.

Additionally, it has the capacity to increase the overall value of the project and upgrade the area to inferred.

Phase one is expected to be completed in eight to nine months while phase two will be completed in four to five months.

Southern Palladium has ended the day 4.38 per cent in the red with shares trading at 76.5 cents.