Western Australia-focused explorer Antipa Minerals (ASX:AZY) has made a new gold discovery at the GEO-01 target within its Minyari Dome Gold-Copper Project in the Paterson Province of Western Australia.
The $57.55 million market capitalisation company reports broad-spaced reverse circulation (RC) results returned from phase one drilling at GEO-01 warrant a re-evaluation of its CY2023 exploration program, with follow-up RC and diamond core drilling now in planning.
First-pass RC drilling intersected ‘significant’ shallow ‘high-grade’ gold mineralisation, with some holes ending in mineralisation. Results recorded include hole 23MYC0383 with 24m @ 1.3g/t Au from 16m, including 4m @ 6.7g/t Au from 28m; and 23MYC0384 with 48m @ 1.3g/t Au and 0.05% Cu from 132m, including 28m @ 2.2g/t Au and 0.05% Cu from 132m.
Antipa says the main zone of mineralisation in the area is interpreted to be between 100m and 150m thick and remains open in most directions, which the company says represents the potential for a ‘significant’, open pit amenable, maiden resource opportunity.
On 24 May 2023, Antipa began the CY2023 exploration program at Minyari Dome, which included 12,000m to 15,000m of drilling, soil geochemical sampling, and limited ongoing Prefeasibility Study (PFS) workstreams.
The company says this first-pass RC drilling intersected numerous 10m to 50m intervals grading between 0.1g/t Au and 0.3g/t Au based on 4m composite samples. Antipa notes these ‘thick’ intervals have the potential to host narrower zones of higher-grade mineralisation, which is being assessed through the collection and assaying of 1m re-split samples.
Antipa reports assay results from the remainder of the 7,300m phase one Minyari Dome drilling program are still outstanding. A total of 23 RC holes for 4,200m were completed at the Minyari North, Minyari Plunge offset target, Chicane, and a selection of geophysical targets within a kilometre of the Minyari deposit.
Commenting on the phase one drilling results, Antipa Minerals Managing Director Roger Mason says: “We are very pleased to report the discovery of thick, near-surface, high-grade gold mineralisation at GEO-01, just 1.3km from our Minyari gold resource.
“These first-pass GEO-01 RC drilling results support our belief that there is excellent potential to grow the near-surface, open-pit-amenable, resource this year”
These first-pass GEO-01 RC drilling results support our belief that there is excellent potential to grow the near-surface, open-pit-amenable, resource this year.
The Minyari Dome Project economics are hugely leveraged to future resource growth, with any successful follow-up drilling of the GEO-01 gold discovery likely to significantly enhance the Minyari Dome development opportunity.
We look forward to further evaluating GEO-01 with the objective of delivering a significant maiden resource as we continue the systematic testing of other high-potential targets, including Tetris, during our phase two drilling program during the remainder of this year.”
Meanwhile, Antipa reports preparations for diamond drill testing the Tetris target has begun. Tetris is a doppelganger of Greatland Gold’s (LSE:GGP) 5.5-million-ounce Haverion deposit, displaying a similar ‘bullseye’-shaped, sized, and amplitude magnetic anomaly.
The company says the Western Australian government awarded it a $220,000 grant to co-fund this upcoming drilling program, providing strong validation of the ‘high-potential’ exploration opportunity presented at Tetris. Drill testing at Pacman will also be supported by the Western Australian government under a second co-funding grant of $220,000, which was awarded to test multiple Haverion and Nifty analogue targets.
Antipa Minerals is an Australian mineral explorer that holds a land position of 5,100km-square in the Paterson Province of Western Australia, which the company says is a historically underexplored gold-copper-silver-cobalt province.
The company’s portfolio includes the Minyari Dome Gold-Copper Project, along with the Citadel Joint Venture (JV) with Rio Tinto (ASX:RIO), the Paterson Project farm-in with IGO (ASX:IGO), and the Wilki Project farm-in with Newcrest Mining (ASX:NCM).
As of 30 June 2023, Antipa had $5.4 million cash at hand and no debt, according to its latest quarterly report published on 27 July 2023.
Write to Harry Mulholland at Mining.com.au
Images: Antipa Minerals Ltd
