Antipa Minerals Ltd (ASX:AZY) has revealed detailed plans by its farm-in partners for FY2024 gold-copper exploration programs at the Paterson and Wilki farm-in projects in Western Australia.
The initiatives, which will be financed entirely by the farm-in partners, highlight the company's strategic plan for the fiscal year.
At the Paterson Project, wholly owned by Antipa and farm-in managed by IGO Ltd, an aggressive plan involving 9,000 metres of drilling to test several high-priority greenfield targets has been laid out.
Meanwhile at Wilki, a wholly owned initiative with Newcrest as the farm-in partner, a 2,300-metre RC drilling program is planned.
Looking ahead, Antipa is poised to accelerate growth and enrich its resource base through the execution of robust, future-oriented exploration programs at these projects.
Potential for multiple discoveries
Antipa managing director Roger Mason said: “We are excited to have multiple drill rigs turning across all four of Antipa’s Paterson Province projects during the second half of this calendar year, with our partners Rio Tinto (ASX:RIO), IGO and Newcrest aiming to complete a total of approximately 13,000 metres of drilling as part of the three combined A$8.6 million FY2024 exploration programs.
“At the Paterson Farm-in Project, up to 9,000 metres of drilling will be undertaken in the current half year, commencing in August.
“At the Wilki Farm-in Project, approximately 2,300 metres of RC drilling is also currently scheduled for this half.
"Both of these exploration programs are fully funded by our farm-in partners and are targeting greenfield discoveries including analogue targets to Havieron, Winu and Telfer.
“All drilling programs, including our 100%-owned Minyari Dome Project, are heavily focused on growth, testing a range of compelling targets offering the potential for multiple major gold-copper discoveries.”
Paterson farm-in
At Paterson, the 9,000-metre program includes 1,350 metres of diamond core drilling, 3,600 metres of reverse circulation (RC) drilling and 4,000 metres of aircore drilling.
In addition, the project will involve continuous target generation activities, conducted in conjunction with the drilling.
The program has a budget of A$4.2 million, which will be entirely funded and managed by IGO. The drilling is slated to kick off in August 2023.
Wilki farm-in
The Wilki program will test Havieron, Winu and Telfer analogue targets within 10 to 50 kilometres of Newcrest's Telfer gold-copper-silver mine.
Similar to the Paterson farm-in project, the Wilki project will also undertake supplementary target-generation activities.
The program budget will be fully funded and operated by Newcrest.
These proposed activities are anticipated to be completed during this half-year.