Aureka (ASX:AKA) has begun diamond drilling this week at the Fiddlers Creek mine to assess near-surface mineral continuity at the ‘high-grade’ gold and silver operation.
The drilling aims to infill and elevate zones of mineralisation and test key areas for potential development of underground infrastructure.
The company expects repeating or intersecting additional ‘high-grade’ mineralisation could potentially deliver further gold ounces into production beyond the current mine plan within the next three years.
The program marks the first time the project has been drilled from surface since May 2025. Aureka plans to complete at least 400m of diamond drilling as part of its acquisition integration strategy to meet agreed post-acquisition drilling targets.
Previous drilling returned significant ‘high-grade’ results including 1.19m @ 40.48 grams per tonne gold (Au) from 19m, incorporating 0.06m @ 786.1g/t Au from 20.13m in hole FKH08.
Other notable intercepts include 1.57m @ 31.09g/t Au from 135.14m in FDDH008 and 1.87m @ 21.21g/t Au from 97.23m in FDDH012.
The drilling also intersected ‘high-grade’ silver (Ag) mineralisation, with hole FKH031 returning 0.35m @ 1,600g/t Ag and 1.2g/t Au from 23.35m.
Managing Director James Gurry says near-mine exploration drilling was “one of the key opportunities” identified in due diligence.
“We understand the existing team had limited resources available for drilling in the past 12 months while focused on production ramp-up,” Gurry notes.
“Our ability to promptly address this value-add potential while production continues apace speaks to the complementary nature of the transaction.”
Exploration Manager Jozef Story says mineralisation remains open along strike, down-plunge to the southeast, and down-dip of the existing mineral model.
“Limited drill testing has been completed, and there remains a real potential for ongoing exploration success,” Story adds.
The ‘high-grade’ gold mineralisation at Fiddlers Creek is associated with narrow quartz shear veining containing elevated sulphides. The mineralisation includes pyrite alongside galena, sphalerite, and chalcopyrite.
The company processes ore at its 100%-owned Wedderburn processing mill.
The transaction includes granted exploration licence tenure surrounding Fiddlers Creek covering approximately 39km2. The tenure represents future exploration targets within the vicinity of historical reefs and mines.
Aureka is an Australian gold company advancing a portfolio of exploration and development projects across Victoria’s historic goldfields.
Write to JC Villarba at Mining.com.au
Images: Aureka
