Novo to launch Pilbara, Victoria exploration blitz

TSX-listed Novo Resources is set to kick off a combined 8000m drill campaign across its key Pilbara prospects and its Belltopper project in Victoria following the company’s success at its Becher gold play.

The exploration program will target Novo’s Nunyerry North, Balla Balla and Bamboo-Strattons projects in Western Australia’s Pilbara region, while it also has plans for a diamond drill campaign at Belltopper.

Management says it has finalised the program design and planning for its maiden drill program at Nunyerry North, which sits to the south of the Egina gold camp and about 80km south-west of its flagship Becher project. The company has identified a gold soil anomaly at the site that extends through a 1.4km strike where samples taken in 2021 returned values of up to 30.3 grams per tonne gold.

Balla Balla covers an area of more than 1200 square kilometres in the north-west Pilbara, with several small historical gold workings, but limited systematic exploration. Novo is currently working on plans for heritage surveys and reconnaissance air-core (AC) drilling, with several pegged exploration licenses at the site expected to be granted this year.

The Bamboo and Stratton projects sit about 60km east of Marble Bar, where the company has identified a potentially new and unusual style of intrusion-related gold mineralisation. Soil sampling in the area has returned anomalous gold results, with a reverse-circulation (RC) drill program being planned.

On the other side of the nation in Victoria, Novo has highlighted several high-priority target areas at its Belltopper gold project after compiling a comprehensive set of data. Results from drilling, sampling, mapping, surveys and historic data have been used to compile a 3D prospectivity model of the project to collate effective drill-targeting for a diamond campaign set for this year.

Novo Resources acting chief executive officer and co-chairman Mike Spreadborough said: “We are set for an exciting and busy second half. Importantly, our highly prospective 10,500 sq km exploration portfolio in the Pilbara and Belltopper in Victoria provides Novo with a strong platform for growth and we have several exploration programs planned to commence across key targets.”

Just last month, Novo secured the support of giant neighbour De Grey Mining as a cornerstone investor and potential joint venture (JV) partner, in a deal worth up to $35 million at Becher. As part of the deal, De Grey has the right to earn a 50 per cent interest in the project and adjacent tenements by spending $25 million over four years when the 50-50 “Egina” JV will be formed, with a minimum $7 million spend within 18 months.

Becher forms part of Novo’s 10,500-square-kilometre Pilbara tenement package and sits within its greater Egina gold camp between De Grey’s Mallina and Hemi gold projects. The company says the camp includes an 80km strike trend along a known gold-fertile corridor between Becher and Nunyerry North. De Grey will manage all exploration at Becher under the earn-in agreement and will become the manager of the Egina JV once it is established.

Novo recently completed a 61,400m AC drill campaign at Becher, sinking 2540 holes that identified 207 intercepts recording more than 0.5g/t gold and 109 hits above 1g/t. The company is still waiting on assays from 89 more holes.

An updated exploration program at Becher is expected to be released by De Grey in its new managerial role this year.

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