Strickland Metals is gearing up for a blockbuster start to 2025, with a flood of key assay results expected to start pouring in next week from its Shanac and Gradina deposits at the company’s flagship Rogozna gold and base metal project in Serbia respectively.
Adding to the momentum, the long-awaited maiden resource estimate for its Medenovac deposit, also at Rogozna, is slated for late February, setting up a potential game-changing milestone for the company.
At its Yandal gold project in Western Australia the company says work on modelling the data from a 2024 drill program is also on track to deliver an updated resource estimate by the end of March.
The massive 2024 exploration campaign at Rogozna drilled more than 60,000 metres using four diamond rigs and yielded some of the highest-grade results in the project’s history. The results have set the stage for what management hopes will be an even bigger year in 2025.
With the rigs resting up for the holiday season before restarting in early March the company has spent much of the past month focused on interpreting these results and developing resource models.
At Shanac, final assays from the company’s cornerstone 4.63-million-ounce gold equivalent deposit should drop next week, marking a big moment for the project.
Phase two metallurgical test work kicked off in November after a 400 kilogram sample was shipped to an ALS laboratory in Perth and the assays should provide Strickland with the final nod to move ahead with development of Rogozna as a standalone project.
Additionally, assays are expected back in the next two weeks from the high-grade, gold-only Gradina prospect - the company’s newest discovery at its Serbian project and could be highly anticipated given the previous eyebrow-raising results.
Those assays were reported a month ago and included a 25.5m hit grading 5.2 grams per tonne (g/t) as part of a 48.5m intercept grading 3. g/t from 194m. Notably, the hit appears to be part of the same lode stretching down to 600m where another previous hole hit a 11.5m slice grading 13.1g/t.
At Medenovac, one of Strickland’s promising new prospects at Rogozna, the company is on track to release a maiden resource estimate by late February.
Recent wildcat drilling in November reached depths of 350m and delivered impressive results, with a 40.3m intercept grading 2.6g/t gold, including a higher-grade 12m section at 5.7g/t gold from 584m.
The findings confirmed Medenovac as the third significant gold and base metal discovery at the project.
Strickland Metals managing director Paul L'Herpiniere said “Following an exceptionally successful 2024 drilling program at Rogozna, we eagerly anticipate the imminent release of several critical assay results. With resource modelling well underway, we are confident in delivering a maiden mineral resource estimate for Medenovac by February and an updated resource figure for Yandal by March.”
The company is also busy refining its resource modelling for its Yandal gold project in WA, on the back of some impressive recent drilling data. A revised resource estimate is slated for late March.
Assay results reported in October included a 12m hit grading 5.4g/t from 108m, including 4m running 8g/t and a 28m intersection going 1g/t from 16m including 4m at 3.8g/t.
A new 20,000m drilling program is also planned for 2025 at Yandal, which will use the data from the past year’s equally big 20,000m program as a guide for the drill bit.
The company remains well-funded with an estimated $41.1 million cash and Northern Star Resources shares on hand at the end of September.
Strickland’s aggressive exploration strategy comes amid a rampant gold price, currently trading at US$2696 (A$4333) per ounce and just shy of all-time highs of $4388 set a few days ago.
The company has much news set to flow on the immediate horizon. With assays and resource estimates due in both Serbia and Australia coupled with more than 80,000m of exploration drilling planned for 2025, it appears to be gearing up for a big year in the spotlight.
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By James Pearson
