Podium Minerals Limited (ASX:POD) is preparing to commence resource drilling to increase and enhance the existing Mineral Resources which currently stand at 1.14Moz 3E PGM plus 37kt Copper, at its Parks Reef PGM Project near Meekatharra WA in July.
The new drilling campaign will build on the company’s February 2020 announcement ofa 54% increase in the Mineral Resources for Parks Reef with contained metals increasing to a total of 1,140,000 ounces of combined platinum, palladium and gold plus base metal credits with 37,300 tonnes copper.
The current Mineral Resources extend over 6.9km of the identified 15km strike length of Parks Reef and within 100m of surface with the mineralisation open along strike and at depth.
With opportunity for the deposit to host a materially significant platinum group metal (PGM) resource Podium continues to advance its growth strategy for Parks Reef with clear work programmes to define a credible pathway to production, comprising:
- continued systematic drilling along the full 15km strike length of Parks Reef with the aim of delineating a materially significant resource base;
- testwork and process design to select a preferred process route; and
- a scoping study to define a project development plan
The company is in the final stages of a $1 million capital raisingvia a $500,000 share placement and a Share Purchase Plan (SPP) offered to existing shareholders to raise up to a further $500,000.
The raised funds will be applied to advance the work programmes with resource drilling expected to commence in Julywith availability of a drill rig currently being finalised.
Drilling to date has defined Mineral Resources in three separate resource blocks in the west, central and eastern sectors of Parks Reef. This approach to resource drilling has allowed the company to efficiently build a resource base while increasing confidence in the continuity of mineralisation along strike.
The planned July drilling will infill between the existing west and central resource blocks with an objective of defining a continuous resource block spanning approximately 6.1km in the western half of Parks Reef increasing the extent of the total resources to a combined length of 8.5km.
As part of the July field work Podium plans to undertake geological mapping and rock-chip sampling to test for a possible western extension of Parks Reef.
Magnetic imagery indicates potential for a circa 1.2km long extension of the western flank of the Parks Reef which has been fault offset from the existing identified extents of the mineralisation. The area of interest lies within the company’s exploration license (E20/928) which adjoins the western end of Podium’s mining leases. Podium has planned rock-chip sampling of outcrop to test for anomalous PGM and base metals and if positive will undertake follow-up drilling.
