Dreadnought Resources (ASX:DRE) has outlined 7 ‘camp-scale’ gold prospects within its Central Yilgarn tenure in Western Australia that the company has now prioritised for exploration.
These prospects — named simply T1, T2, T6, T11, T18, T20, and T21 — all contain proven gold mineralisation from limited historical exploration, and Dreadnought says 3 are home to several ‘walk-up’ drill targets.
The $66.1 million market capitalisation company has designated the ‘Honey’ target within the T2 prospect as its highest priority for drilling, given the area’s geological similarity to the Wattle Dam deposit from which Ramelius Resources (ASX:RMS) historically produced around 250,000 ounces @ 10.9 grams per tonne (g/t) gold.
With the prospects outlined and prioritised, Dreadnought plans to begin fresh exploration work in the region in March.
The Central Yilgarn area covers some 1,400km-square of ‘highly prospective’ ground within Western Australia’s Yilgarn Craton and is home to 4 greenstone belts: Illaara, Yerilgee, Evanston, and South Elvire.
Through a string of acquisitions over the past several years, Dreadnought has become the first explorer to ever control all 4 greenstone belts at once — meaning the company has been able to assess the prospectivity of the entire Central Yilgarn area on a consolidated basis.
Dreadnought Managing Director Dean Tuck says it’s from this review and assessment that the company was able to identify and outline the 7 new prospects.
“Honey is an analogue for the company-making Wattle Dam deposit and is our top priority.
Other drill-ready targets include large anomalies at Viper, Leghorn and Chicken Little. We are looking forward to advancing these targets in this high gold price environment.”
At the T1 prospect’s Viper target, which Dreadnought says is a 1,500m-by-800m gold-arsenic-antimony anomaly, previous drilling results from 2017 yielded 15m @ 1.5g/t Au from 12m, including 3m @ 6.7g/t Au.
At Leghorn within T2, 2017 drilling struck 48m @ 0.7g/t Au from 27m, including 21m @ 1.3g/t Au.
And at Chicken Little, which lies in the T6 area, drilling from 2018 hit 56m @ 0.8g/t Au from 0m, including 24m @ 1.6g/t Au and 9m @ 3.3g/t Au.
Dreadnought Resources had around $2.8 million cash at hand at the end of December 2023, according to its latest quarterly report. The company says it’s expecting to pocket a research and development tax incentive rebate of $2.1 million, as well as a joint venture reimbursement of around $500,000, shortly.
Write to Joshua Smith at Mining.com.au
Images: Dreadnought Resources
