Yandal Resources (ASX:YRL) is gearing up for fresh exploration work across its Ironstone Well-Barwidgee Gold Project in Western Australia as it wraps up reverse circulation (RC) drilling at the Oblique prospect.
The company says it has a ‘very active’ first half of 2024 planned, with priority exploration work to include the interpretation of results from the RC drilling and wider soil sampling across the project area, target generation at the New England Granite (NEG) prospect, and drill testing at the Quarter Moon prospect, just south of Oblique.
The recently completed RC drilling at Oblique was designed to follow up on an initial RC campaign taken on in December that confirmed the prospectivity of the area.
Yandal says Oblique comprises a ‘broad’ regolith gold anomaly associated with a magnetic high, with a strike extent of more than 1.9km based on historical drilling.
All-up, the $21.12 million market capitalisation company drilled 14 RC holes at Oblique for 2,574m in its latest program, with holes drilled to between 72m and 270m.
While assays are still pending, the company says it made several fresh rock intercepts through the drilling work.
All samples from this program have been dispatched to a lab for analysis, with results expected over late December 2023 and early January 2024.
Based on its early analysis of the drilling, Yandal says the magnetic feature at Oblique is now interpreted to be associated with a laterally continuous chlorite-magnetite altered volcaniclastic, with a true widths of between 20m and 35m.
Yandal Managing Director Tim Kennedy says the company was able to complete the program despite ‘challenging drilling conditions’.
“With the increased number of fresh rock intercepts, the company’s geological understanding of the prospect has grown substantially with each completed RC hole.
The widths and strike extent of the relatively rigid chlorite-magnetite altered unit observed in this phase of drilling is very encouraging.”
“With the increased number of fresh rock intercepts, the company’s geological understanding of the prospect has grown substantially with each completed RC hole“
Upcoming RC drilling at the NEG prospect will be supported by 2 deep diamond holes partly funded by the Western Australian government’s Exploration Incentive Scheme (EIS). Drilling in this zone is currently scheduled for early in the 2024 field season.
Meanwhile, Yandal is busy finalising exploration targets and its drilling strategy for its Gordons Gold Project, also in Western Australia.
The Ironstone-Barwidgee project lies just 30km from Jundee and 38km from Wiluna, and it includes regional structures and numerous subordinate structures with demonstrated gold potential.
Yandal Resources had $3.2 million cash and cash equivalents at hand as of 30 September 2023, although it raised an additional $4m million through a share placement in November.
Write to Joshua Smith at Mining.com.au
Images: Yandal Resources
