Junior explorer Solstice Minerals (ASX:SLS) is progressing the required environmental, heritage, and access approvals for further exploration at its Ponton Project in Western Australia.
The company is taking these steps ahead of initial, cost-effective aircore drill testing, which will be planned once the company has received heritage clearance.
Solstice says the project is considered to have ‘good’ greenfield gold, base metals, and rare earth elements prospectivity and established gold geochemical anomalism that is awaiting first-pass drilling, as well as a series of unexplored geophysical targets that lie below transported cover.
The outlining of the planned exploration work comes as Solstice lodges an application for an adjoining Exploration Licence in the area, extending its landholding at the project.
Commenting on the company’s preparation for exploration activities, Solstice Minerals Chief Executive Officer (CEO) and Managing Director Nick Castleden says: “Solstice has further strengthened its land position in this new frontier exploration project, and we look forward to getting first-stage short-hole drilling into a range of untested geophysical targets and coherent gold-in-soil anomalism.
“Greenfield work in interesting structural and geophysical locations always has the potential to surprise and makes for exciting exploration“
Greenfield work in interesting structural and geophysical locations always has the potential to surprise and makes for exciting exploration. We are now progressing the required heritage and access steps ahead of this work.”
Exploration within the project area remains at an early stage, with most of the historical drilling having been designed to test for paleochannel-hosted uranium mineralisation and, as such, having a limited focus on the underlying basement geology.
Solstice Minerals is an ASX-listed company focused on its gold and base metal projects in the Eastern Goldfields of Western Australia. The company’s key projects include the extensive Yarri gold landholding, the Ringlock Dam Project, and the Ponton Project.
Write to Aaliyah Rogan at Mining.com.au
Images: Solstice Minerals Ltd
