ASX-listed Strickland Metals has tied up the acquisition of its mammoth Rogozna gold and base metal project in Serbia where a resource containing more than 5.4 million ounces of gold equivalent has already been defined.
And the company will have immediate momentum behind the asset gain as a 60,000m resource expansion and exploration drilling campaign is well underway, with three rigs smashing out the metres and a fourth to be added shortly.
Strickland expects the drilling barrage to run through to late next year as management seeks to rapidly grow and improve its existing inferred resource into a higher-confidence category, while also testing prospective exploration targets defined at the project through historical works.
Notably, previous owners of the 184-square-kilometre tenure drilled more than 100,000m to delineate the current inferred resource at just two of four deposits identified through drilling. They also conducted project-wide geophysics and geochemistry to define an extensive pipeline of more than 20 exploration targets.
Strickland has also appointed a new captain to steer its Serbian gold and base metal adventure with industry veteran Paul L’Herpiniere officially taking the reins as new managing director of the company. L’Herpiniere brings to the table a professional history in multi-commodity project generation and exploration management across Asia, Africa, New Zealand and Australia, including a stint as exploration manager at iron ore behemoth, Fortescue Metals.
Separately, Dr Jon Hronsky has been appointed as the company’s non-executive director. Both have extensive experience at Rogozna, having been involved with the project for several years through their work with private equity group, Ibaera Capital.
Strickland Metals chairman Anthony McClure said: “Today marks a significant milestone for Strickland Metals. The Rogozna Project, with its substantial JORC-compliant Inferred Mineral Resource of 5.44Moz Au Eq, not only enhances our asset portfolio but also provides us with an exceptional opportunity to explore and develop the project into one of the largest undeveloped gold deposits globally.”
McClure said the company would now immediately focus on its “comprehensive” exploration programs across the four key deposits at Shanac, Medenovac, Gradina and Copper Canyon.
To date, the inferred resource at Rogozna is made up of the Shanac and Copper Canyon deposits and totals 120 million tonnes at 0.63 grams per tonne gold and 0.1 per cent copper, coupled with some silver, lead and zinc credits. The drilling will target strike and depth extensions at Shanac and strike extensions at Copper Canyon.
Strickland will also look to deliver a maiden resource at the Medenovac and Gradina deposits where previous drilling returned a string of impressive intercepts. Past hits at Medenovac include an eye-catching 97.7m interval grading 5.1g/t gold equivalent hosted within a broader intercept of 352m at 2.1g/t.
More broadly, a geochemical footprint covering 2km by 2km has been outlined at Medenovac, which is considerably bigger than the area drilled to date. Management believes the prospect also has the potential for porphyry copper and gold mineralisation further at depth.
Some 10,000m of drilling is planned at Medenovac, with the release of a maiden resource estimate pencilled in for early next year.
Multiple high-grade gold strikes have also been returned across a 1km strike length at Gradina, including 15m at 3.9g/t gold equivalent and 22m at 4.1g/t in one hole. Another hole delivered a 10m interval at 4.9g/t gold equivalent and another 27.5m zone at 5.1g/t.
A series of other drill-ready and early-stage prospects has also been defined at Rogozna. All up, the company has planned for 35,000m in resource definition drilling and 25,000m in discovery drilling throughout this year and into 2025.
Strickland has hit the ground running since first revealing its plans to acquire Rogozna back in April this year. With the deal now concluded, the cashed-up company is sitting in the driver’s seat for an action-packed 18 months as four drill rigs test the extent of the already vast gold and base metal system defined at the project.
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By Bart Bogacz
