Gold explorer Ardiden (ASX:ADV) has extended its current drill campaign at the Pickle Lake Gold Project in Ontario, Canada, following fresh assay results from the region.
The company now plans to complete 5,000m of drilling, up from the initial plan of 3,250m.
Ardiden states it extended the program to cover a greater strike length and ensure the continuity of the ‘highly’ prospective areas within the tertiary structure. Drilling is planned to continue until the end of May.
Ardiden reports the first 8 holes from the Dorothy prospect confirm that mineralisation demonstrates consistency with the geological model, and the results reveal that the tertiary structure produces wide anomalous mineralised zones.
The ‘significant’ new assays include drillhole DR-23-06 with 7.68m @ 4.55g/t Au from 56.17m, within a broader envelope of 38.37m @ 1.17g/t Au from 28.12m, including 24.13m @ 1.79g/t Au from 42.36m; and drillhole DR-23-07 with 5.16m @ 4.98g/t Au from 71m, within a broader envelope of 19.91m @ 1.38g/t Au from 56.25m.
Commenting on the drill results, Ardiden Chief Executive Officer (CEO) and Managing Director Greg Romain says: “This confirms our thesis by demonstrating broad gold mineralisation and is one of the main reasons I joined the company.
“I believe this to be an exciting opportunity for Ardiden given its large land position in the shadow of historical mines”
I believe this to be an exciting opportunity for Ardiden given its large land position in the shadow of historical mines, and the company being well-funded to undertake the necessary work to further unlock the potential at its Pickle Lake Gold Project.”
Additionally, commenting on the campaign and assays, Ardiden Exploration Manager, Haydn Daxter says: “We are continuing to build our understanding of the structures that appear to control the mineralisation event and, as a result, have expanded our current program to ensure that we test 2.5km of strike length along the expansive tertiary structure at Dorothy.”
The aim of the current program is to test the large mineralisation halo and the ‘semi-massive’ to ‘massive’ sulphide sequence uncovered in the company’s 2022 drilling program at the Dorothy and Dobie prospects.
Ardiden says Dorothy is the focus of the current program due to the width of the drilled anomalous zones, alongside the ‘large’ number of cross-cutting structures interpreted as potential fluid feeders from the primary structure into these broad secondary and tertiary structures, which run parallel to and through the Pickle Lake tenements.
The Pickle Lake Gold Project lies northwest of Ontario and consists of 4 ‘major’ gold deposits: Kasagiminnis, Dobie, Dorothy, and Esker. The project covers an area of 100km by 30km and offers upside exploration potential and resource growth opportunities along the 120km of prospective strike length.
Ardiden is an ASX-listed exploration company focused on discovering and building a ‘significant’ ‘high-grade’ gold resource at its wholly owned Pickle Lake Gold Project.
Images: Ardiden Ltd
