Astute Metals (ASX:ASE) has identified four high-priority targets at the Needles Gold-Silver Project in Nevada, US, after conducting a technical review.
The Needles Project hosts a large epithermal system, with recently acquired advanced spaceborne thermal emission and reflection radiometer (ASTER) data showing a 3km by 2km zone of kaolinite and illite alteration.
Astute, which has a market capitalisation of $10.5 million, plans to test the high-priority targets identified for vein-style and disseminated systems of mineralisation. The company will also refine these targets through an airborne magnetic survey and a grid-scale soil sampling campaign.
The company intends to progress these programs quickly to advance to drill testing, which is expected in Q3 2025.
Chairman Tony Leibowitz says the review indicates prospectivity for epithermal gold-silver mineralisation, with the ASTER imagery indicating that historical drilling has never tested the prospective zone.
“This review of the Needles Gold Project has brought a fresh set of eyes to this under-explored project at a time of record gold prices and accelerating gold-silver exploration in Nevada as one of the premier jurisdictions for gold exploration and mining globally,” Leibowitz says.
“We now plan to get boots on ground as soon as possible to undertake soil sampling and a magnetic survey, with the aim of commencing drilling at Needles during the September quarter.
“This is an exciting addition to Astute’s 2025 exploration campaign alongside our ongoing drilling at the Red Mountain Lithium Project, which is rapidly emerging as one of North America’s standout lithium clay deposits.”
At Needles, the high-priority targets include the Eastern Shaft and Whooper Junior prospects, as well as the Arrowhead and Tomahawk mines.
The Eastern Shaft prospect has returned rock chip samples of up to 33 grams per tonne gold and 622g/t silver, which remains untested.
Meanwhile, Whopper Junior — which has only been shallowly drilled — has strong pathfinder anomalism above elevated induced polarisation chargeability and downward alteration vector.
The historical Arrowhead Mine is a 107m-deep four-level mine with along strike intersections including 3.42 @ 2.92g/t gold and 905g/t silver.
Further, at the 200m-long trend at Tomahawk, assays have returned up to 5.54g/t gold and 406g/t silver. The target has not been drill tested.
Astute Metals is a diversified mineral explorer focused on discovering and developing its project portfolio in Nevada, US and the Northern Territory, Australia. The company’s assets are considered prospective particularly for lithium, copper, gold, and silver.
According to Trading Economics, gold’s price had increased to US$3,269.16 ($5,002.59) per ounce today, representing a 0.03% increase from 29 June.
As of 10.30am AEST, gold’s price sat at $5,003.12 per ounce, as reported by the ABC Bullion.
Write to Aaliyah Rogan at Mining.com.au
Images: Astute Metals
