Final results are in for the Citadel joint venture with Rio Tinto (ASX:RIO), along with the wholly owned Paterson IGO farm-in project, and Antipa Minerals Ltd (ASX:AZY) is confident they point to a new mineralisation trend.
At the Paterson IGO farm-in project, assays from the 2022 exploration program confirm a highly prospective, 8-kilometre-long gold and base metal trend north of Minyari with multiple gold-copper targets identified for drill testing.
The exploration that took place last year was fully funded by IGO and included soil geochemical sampling and a 51 hole, 3,637-metre aircore drilling campaign.
The project was the beneficiary of an exploration incentive scheme (EIS) grant in the sum of $210,000 in April, and this funding will be applied to testing two targets 15 kilometres along strike from Rio Tinto’s Winu copper-gold-silver development project.
The 2023 exploration program is now in the final stages of planning, with drilling expected to commence in the third quarter of the year.
Final results for Rio Tinto JV
The joint venture is now in possession of final assays for 2,278 metres of reverse circulation (RC) drilling it conducted in the fourth quarter of 2022, which appears to have further increased the Rimfire North gold-copper mineralisation footprint.
Some 10 kilometres of highly prospective magnetic aureole are still to be tested, and exploration covering 1,000 to 1,400 metres is scheduled later in 2023 to further evaluate the Rimfire Southwest target and two targets at Junction.
The $2.1 million program will be operated by Antipa and fully funded by Rio Tinto.
“We are very pleased to report a successful 2022 field season at our Paterson and Citadel major growth projects,” Antipa managing director Roger Mason said.
“At the Paterson Project, multiple gold-copper targets have now been confirmed along a highly prospective 40-kilometre-long trend, providing numerous new discovery opportunities for the 2023 exploration program.
“While at Citadel, assay results increased the Rimfire North gold-copper mineralisation footprint, where we believe there is significant discovery potential.
“The Antipa team looks forward to interrogating multiple high-potential opportunities during our operation of this year’s drilling program.”
About Paterson
The Paterson Project is a $30 million exploration farm-in agreement with IGO covering 1,550 square kilometres of Antipa’s 100%-owned tenements in the Paterson Province of Western Australia.
Under the terms of the agreement, IGO is entitled to earn up to 70% joint venture interest in the Paterson Project.
Upon joint venture formation, IGO will free-carry Antipa to the completion of a feasibility study. The Paterson Project comes to within 22 kilometres of Newcrest’s Telfer gold-copper-silver mine and 22 million-tonne-per-annum mineral processing facility, 8 kilometres of Rio Tinto’s Winu copper-gold-silver development project and surrounds the company’s Minyari Dome Project on all four sides.
Aircore drilling 12 to 20 kilometres north of Minyari intersected significant gold, copper, cobalt zinc, lead ± bismuth, molybdenum and other pathfinder element anomalism and mineralisation along 8 kilometres of a northwest trending corridor.
About Citadel
The Citadel joint venture was operated by Rio Tinto and comprised drilling, modelling and metallurgical test work. An RC drilling program was conducted last year covering 2,300 metres and focusing on the Rimfire area and the Transfer target.
Key results for the final Rimfire drilling include:
- 4 metres at 1.83 g/t gold and 0.15% copper from 214 metres down hole including 2 metres at 3.32 g/t gold and 0.19% copper from 214 metres downhole; and
- 20 metres at 0.24 g/t gold, 0.12% copper and 1.58 g/t silver from 212 metres down hole.