Yandal Resources (ASX:YRL) is planning some fresh diamond and reverse circulation (RC) drilling across its Ironstone Well-Barwidgee (IWB) Gold Project in Western Australia following a soil sampling survey in the area.
The $28 million market capitalisation company is gearing up for 4,500m of RC drilling and 2,500m of diamond drilling across the Oblique and Quarter Moon prospects, with the RC work to start in early March and diamond drilling to follow in April.
Yandal says the RC work at Oblique will follow up on some ‘significant’ intercepts from phase two RC drilling completed back in November 2023 but will also test regolith anomalies across the northern half of the prospect.
At Quarter Moon, the RC drilling will test along-strike and below higher-grade intercepts in the area to help Yandal understand the continuity and geometry of mineralisation in this area.
Meanwhile, the company is also planning 2 deep diamond holes across the New England Granite prospect to be co-funded by the Western Australian government’s Exploration Incentive Scheme.
This diamond work will help inform the design of a broader RC program slated for sometime during the June quarter.
Yandal says with about $7.5 million in available funds, it is ‘well-positioned’ to maintain its current high level of exploration throughout 2024.
The company’s planned drilling work comes after it collected 246 soil samples in November 2023 as part of a trial survey to evaluate the efficacy of soils in the northwest portion of the IWB project.
Yandal says the results of this work confirm a ‘consistent bedrock geochemical response’, indicating that the method provides an effective ‘low-cost’ screen for finding new gold targets.
As a result of the findings of this small-scale work, Yandal says it now plans to roll out a systematic soil sampling program across the broad area of the IWB project.
“Results from the trial soil sampling survey give us confidence that a larger scale soil sampling program will greatly assist in delineating new exploration targets and evaluating existing targets,” Yandal Managing Director Tim Kennedy says.
“Though the survey was intended to highlight areas of lithium prospectivity in the first instance, it is clear from the results that sampling should also be effective in highlighting areas of interest for other commodities, including gold.
This is an excellent outcome as it should provide a rapid and cost-effective screen for areas of interest and help refine targets for more follow-up drilling.”
To support its planned exploration work at Oblique, the company has scheduled a small infill magnetic survey, using a helicopter drone, to be completed before the end of the month. Yandal says this will help provide a better resolution of the structures of interest and drill targets in the area.
Alongside its Oblique and Quarter Moon work, Yandal is also planning to complete a 10,000m aircore drilling program at the Gordons South prospect in mid-2024.
To support its increased work programs, the company has expanded its operational capacity with the appointment of Dr Anthony Morey as its new Senior Exploration Geologist and Adam Baynes as Senior Field Assistant.
Images: Yandal Resources
