Hammer Metals (ASX:HMX) has been awarded $300,000 under the Queensland government’s Collaborative Exploration Initiative (CEI) scheme, which will fund diamond drilling at the Hardway prospect.
The Hardway prospect lies within the company’s Mount Isa Project in North Queensland.
Hammer, which has a market capitalisation of $37.22 million, plans to conduct the program at Hardway in May 2024, and will test mineralisation at depth with detailed core scanning to discern alteration patterns and mineralogy.
Managing Director Daniel Thomas says the government’s CEI program is considered vital for junior explorers and provides another non-dilutive funding source for Hammer’s exploration ambitions.
“Having now completed 22 drillholes at Hardway, primarily focused on shallow zones of copper and rare earth mineralisation, we’ll look to test this system at depth with diamond drilling, in the process gathering vital structural and geological knowledge of this unique mineral system.”
A single reverse circulation drillhole was completed at Hardway in March, aimed to provide information on an interpreted southerly plunge to the copper-cobalt-yttrium mineralisation and support upcoming targeting work.
Samples from this drill program have been submitted to assay laboratories with results anticipated to be returned in 4 to 6 weeks.
Meanwhile, drilling at the Orelia Target 1 gold prospect and the Orelia pegmatite swarm within the Bronzewing Project in Western Australia has been completed. Assays are expected within the next fortnight.
As of 31 December 2023, the company had $1.83 million in cash and cash equivalents at hand, according to its latest quarterly report.
Write to Aaliyah Rogan at Mining.com.au
Images: Hammer Metals
