Strickland Metals has nailed more high-grade gold with hits of 4 metres at 10.1 grams per tonne (g/t) from 339.5m and 16.7m going 4.3g/t, including 8m at 6g/t from 391.5m from a first hole in the company’s recent drilling program at its Gradina prospect in Serbia.
Gradina is part of its huge 7.4 million-ounce gold-equivalent Rogozna project in southern Serbia. Unlike the project’s Shanac, Medenovac and Copper Canyon deposits, which include valuable silver, copper, zinc and lead, Gradina appears to be a gold-only prospect.
The strong results came from the deposit’s northern end and extend the known high-grade mineralisation across 1 kilometre of strike and vertically down to 900m. The company is now on a path to revealing a much-anticipated mineral resource before the end of the year.
The initial diamond drill hole in the recent drilling program, which started in March, was hammered into the northern section of what appears to be a mineralised corridor, defined by previous drilling at the prospect.
Previous impressive drill intervals at Gradina, in the project’s southeast section, include gold hits of 32m running 6.8g/t from 595m, 27.5m at 5g/t from 439.8m and 14.3m going 8g/t from 516.9m.
Gradina’s mineralisation remains open in all directions, including down-dip and up-dip towards surface. Four drill rigs are feverishly working to grow the resource for the maiden reveal later this year, testing for up-dip extensions and infill drilling to support the anticipated maiden resource. An additional two rigs are working at the project’s premier deposit Shanac and at Kotlovi.
A seventh rig is expected to motor towards the project in the coming weeks, as the company continues ratcheting up exploration. It plans to run a whopping 50,000m diamond drill campaign this year at the fully-owned project.
The company still has a stash of cash in its kitty and liquid assets totalling $34.8 million at the end of March, along with a head-turning $5M strategic investment received in April from US$60 billion Chinese mining firm Zijin Mining.
Strickland Metals managing director Paul L’Herpiniere said: “This is a fantastic start to our 2025 drilling campaign at Gradina, with the first diamond drill hole for the year continuing to demonstrate the importance of this high-grade, gold-dominant system for the growth of Rogozna. Our expectation is that Gradina will deliver considerable high-grade ounces to the Rogozna resource inventory by late-2025.”
The company has completed 14 drill holes since beginning its program. It expects to receive the outstanding assays in the coming weeks.
Rogozna consists of four exploration licences within an area of about 184 square kilometres. Strickland believes the project has the potential to become one of the biggest undeveloped gold deposits globally.
The project hosts a giant magmatic hydrothermal system characterised by extensive skarn-based gold-copper mineralisation with varying levels of associated silver, copper, lead and zinc.
Strickland’s current key deposits within the project include its flagship 5.3M-ounce gold equivalent Shanac inferred resource, its 1.28M-ounce gold equivalent Medenovac resource and the 0.81M-ounce gold equivalent resource at Copper Canyon.
Gradina makes up the company’s current complement of still-evolving deposits.
The company is also looking to plunge the drill bit into high-priority targets at its new Jezerska Reka discovery and at its Kotlovi, Veleiki and Red Creek targets, and to follow up new but earlier-stage targets at Obradov Potok, Leca, Wolf Pond and Kaluder.
Strickland recently revealed its 2025 Serbian exploration campaign got off to a flying start, jagging a pair of thick, high-grade hits including a standout 66.8m section grading 2.7g/t gold equivalent at Shanac. A massive gold equivalent intercept was returned of 251.6m at 1.3g/t from 341.9m, including a stellar 58.1m section at 2.3g/t gold equivalent.
Zijin Mining’s recent leaping onto Strickland’s share register makes for an interesting move. Having a powerful player on your side is usually a big positive, especially in Serbia, where Zijin already has a large presence with its Čukaru Peki and Bor copper-gold operations.
The two mines pumped out 300,000t of copper and 250,000 ounces of gold last year, which offers evidence of Zijin’s prowess in the Balkans country.
The growing Rogozna project might one day stand on the global podium as one of the world’s biggest undeveloped gold projects - giving Strickland a real leg-up in the eyes of the market’s gold pundits.
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By Craig Nolan
