Nova Minerals (ASX:NVA) has confirmed more gold-bearing quartz veins at its Tomahawk and Trundle prospects within its Estelle Gold Project in Alaska.
The $69.59 million market capitalisation reports field observations and assay results from surface sampling showed anomalous gold (Au), copper (Cu), and antimony (Sb) mineralisation.
Head of Exploration Hans Hoffman says mineralisation uncovered from both prospects contribute to the developing 35km long Estelle gold trends.
“Chasing the large veins at Wombat led us straight north to Tomahawk, and the iron-stained intrusive rocks at Trundle was an obvious target just west of Wombat. With a long list of prospects from Korbel in the north to RPM in the south, these new results warrant follow-up reconnaissance mapping and sampling.”
Nova reports 6 rocks returned more than 5 grams per tonne (g/t) Au, with a high of 20.9g/t Au, while 5 rocks returned up to 10.5% Cu.
Further, 9 rocks returned greater than 0.1% Sb, with a high of 2.6% Sb, and 6 soils returned up to 1.3g/t Au.
Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Christopher Gerteisen says both prospects have always been an interest for the company and these latest results confirm both are ‘highly’ mineralised in gold, copper, silver, and antimony.
“These results now confirm Trundle and Tomahawk as highly mineralised prospects in not only gold, but copper, silver and antimony as well. These prospects have always been an area of interest for us exhibiting all the indicative features of mineralization, including striking surface colour, alteration, and vein density anomalies, which is now confirmed through sample analysis.
This shows us the value of our systematic surface exploration programs which continue across the Estelle Project. The claim block is 513km-square and we have only scratched the surface.
As we proceed into 2024 and beyond with further exploration work, we expect additional prospects to be discovered with both gold and critical and strategic element potential.
This aggressive ongoing exploration approach, which to date has identified over 20 known mineralized prospects, provides the company with decades of project longevity, with a pipeline of potential resources for future production scenarios. As we move forward, we will prioritise this prospect portfolio for advancement towards resource definition.”
Nova collected 17 rock samples at Tomahawk, and 26 rock samples at Trundle, as part of its exploration surface sampling program.
The company notes further results from the soil and rock chip samples taken across the project area, as well as re-examining multi-element data from historical samples, will be reported by area once received and processed in the coming weeks.
Nova’s flagship Estelle project contains multiple resource centres across a 35km long mineralised corridor of over 20 identified gold prospects, including 2 already defined multi-million ounce resources across 4 deposits containing 9.9 million ounces of gold.
As of 31 December 2023, the company had $6.228 million cash and cash equivalents at hand, according to its latest quarterly report.
Write to Aaliyah Rogan at Mining.com.au
Images: Nova Minerals
