Arika Resources (ASX:ARI) has announced it has begun reverse circulation drilling at its Kookynie Gold Project in Western Australia, marking its first drilling at the project in five years.
The program forms part of a more than 20,000m campaign planned across Kookynie and the company’s Yundamindra project during the second half of 2026.
Initial drilling will test strike and depth extensions to the Cosmopolitan and Altona mineralised structures, as well as linking structures between the two prospects. Arika says operation is also planned at Ithaca, where the company has identified targets it interprets as potential repetitions of nearby mineralised trends.
Recent surface sampling returned gold grades of up to 109 grams per tonne (g/t), with 82 of the 195 assays received to date exceeding 1g/t gold (Au) and 43 returning more than 5g/t.
According to the company, numerous samples were selectively collected from quartz material around historical workings and mine dumps, meaning the results are not necessarily representative of the broader prospects.
Arika has collected 356 samples, with assays pending for the remaining 161. The sampling followed a project-wide review of aeromagnetic data and focused initially on the Cosmopolitan-Altona area.
Managing Director Justin Barton says the expanded landholding has allowed the Arika to assess Kookynie at a project scale.
“Following our successful acquisition of the Iris tenement package late last year, which essentially doubled our ground holding, we’re now in a position to step back and evaluate the area at true project scale,” Barton says.
Further soil sampling, mapping, and rock-chip sampling will be used to refine additional drilling targets. Arika also says it plans two diamond holes to test deeper extensions of the Cosmopolitan and Diamantina mines.
Kookynie lies 150km north of Kalgoorlie and 60km south-southeast of Leonora. Historical records indicate the Cosmopolitan mine produced 331,000 ounces at an average 15g/t Au between 1895 and 1922, while Altona produced 89,000 ounces at 30g/t between 1900 and 1965.
Write to France Pinzon at Mining.com.au
Images: Arika Resources
