Strickland Metals Ltd (ASX:STK) has reported intercepts of up to 89.7 metres at 4.0 grams per tonne (g/t) through drilling at its Shanac deposit in Serbia.
The deposit is part of the wider 5.4 million-ounce Rogozna gold project, with the intercept in question revealing the strongest gold mineralisation ever found there, indicating potential for Shanac – itself carrying a resource estimate of 4.6 million ounces – to be extended.
The intercept – in totality yielding 89.7 metres at 4.0g/t gold from 244.5 metres, including 24.1 metres at 10.5g/t from 296.2 metres – was picked up through the first hole drilled at Shanac, which is one of four skarn-hosted gold and base metals deposits within Rogozna.
The hole was drilled approximately 200 metres from Shanac’s southern end, targeting a zone of strong gold and copper mineralisation hosted within magnetite skarn defined by
previous drilling.
Multiple, geologically distinct zones comprising gold and base metal mineralisation were found.
Strickland Managing Director Paul L’Herpiniere said the results from only one hole were phenomenal.
“Our strategy for Shanac has been to target the higher-grade zones of the deposit to upgrade the 4.6Moz Au Eq inferred resource,” he said.
“Not only did we discover the highest gold grades ever encountered at the Rogozna
Project, but we also encountered extensive copper-gold mineralisation further down the hole, with an ~109m long interval containing 1.3g/t Au with 0.4% Cu, including multiple zones of massive chalcopyrite, with assays up to 11% Cu.
“Perhaps the most important aspect of these new results is that they are validating our geological model for the controls on high-grade mineralisation at Shanac: this is a very large deposit and it is only now that, with the start of closer-spaced drilling, we are defining what we refer to as the ‘Central Domain’.”
He added that the company would shortly carry out follow up drilling on the target discovered through drilling of this first hole, which has been shown to be a thick, high-grade gold zone.
Strickland has been trading at 10 cents, a rise of 3.09% since the market opened.