Antipa Minerals (ASX: AZY) has unveiled an expanded Phase 2 CY2023 drilling programme for its flagship 100%-owned, 900 sq. km Minyari Dome Gold-Copper Project in the Paterson Province of Western Australia.
Highlights
- Expanded Minyari Dome Phase 2 programme of up to 19,200m of new RC, diamond core and air core drilling scheduled to commence late-September.
- Targeting material growth to existing gold-copper Mineral Resource plus major new greenfield discoveries.
- Drilling will focus on the recent shallow GEO-01 discovery and scout-drilling of exciting large- scale greenfield targets, Tetris (T1) and Pacman (PM1 and PM2).
- Follows Phase 1 programme completed during H1 CY2023 which encompassed 7,346m of RC drilling across multiple targets including significant success at GEO-01 and Minyari North.
- Expanded programme enabled by recent capital raising initiatives (Placement and announced Rights Issue) set to provide up to $7.0 million (before costs) in new equity funding.
The expanded Phase 2 drilling programme at Minyari Dome is planned to comprise up to 10,000m of reverse circulation (RC) drilling, 4,200m of diamond core drilling and 5,000m of air core drilling. Key targets to be tested during this programme include:
GEO-01: Significant near-surface high-grade gold mineralisation was intersected at GEO-01 during this year’s Phase 1 drilling, including 68m at 1.4 g/t gold (from 68m) including 36m at 2.6 g/t gold, 48m at 1.3 g/t gold (from 132m) including 28m at 2.2 g/t gold, and 24m at 1.3 g/t gold (from 16m).
Mineralisation remains open in most directions and is located just 1.3km from the company’s 1.5 Moz Minyari deposit. RC and diamond drilling is planned at GEO-01 during Phase 2 in order to rapidly test and expand/drill-out this shallow potential resource opportunity.
Tetris: The high priority Tetris target (T1), located 35km north-east of the Minyari deposit, bears significant geophysical likeness to the large-scale 5.5 Moz Havieron gold-copper deposit (LSE: GGP) discovered in the region. This includes a similar bulls-eye shaped, sized and amplitude coincident magnetic-gravity high geophysical signature, which is hosted by interpreted equivalent stratigraphy under approximately 450m of cover.
The closest drill hole to Tetris is located approximately 15km away. Diamond core drill testing of this greenfield target, which is scheduled to commence in October, is supported by a $220,000 Western Australian Government co-funding drilling grant.
The Pacman targets (PM1, PM2 and PM3) are located approximately 30km to the east of the Minyari deposit. PM1 and PM3 are both magnetic highs with partially coincident gravity highs, also bearing some resemblance to Havieron.
PM2 is a gravity high with a partially coincident magnetic high, bearing a geophysical likeness with the regional Nifty high-grade copper deposit (Figure 4). All three targets are hosted by interpreted Havieron equivalent stratigraphy under approximately 350m of cover. The closest effective drill hole to any of the Pacman targets is located around 10km away. Diamond core drill testing of two of these large-scale greenfield targets is scheduled to commence in November at PM2 which is supported by a further $220,000 Western Australian Government co-funding drilling grant.
Several other regional geophysical ± geochemical targets are also planned to be tested via RC and air core drilling during Phase 2, including GP01 ± Judes. The Phase 2 air core drill programme includes testing the high priority soil geochemical anomaly GEO-12, generated in 2021 approximately 10km northwest of Minyari, noting that the recent GEO-01 gold discovery resulted from testing a similar soil anomaly.
The CY2023 Minyari Dome Project exploration programme and budget will be subject to ongoing review based on results, field conditions, contractor availability and pricing, and other relevant matters.
Antipa’s Managing Director, Roger Mason, commented:
“The 100%-owned Minyari Dome Project offers Antipa a compelling gold exploration and development opportunity in Western Australia’s Paterson Province, and is strategically located just 35km from Newcrest’s 22Mtpa Telfer processing facility. Over the last 18 months, we have started to truly unlock the potential of this asset with multiple, significant discovery successes delivered, including the recent GEO-01 discovery.
Our expanded Phase 2 CY2023 drilling programme will see up to a further approximately 19,000m of RC, diamond core and air core drilling take place across a number of key targets over the next few months each of which has the potential to be transformational for Antipa.”
