Nova Minerals Ltd (ASX:NVA, OTCQB:NVAAF) has made what it’s calling a record-breaking gold discovery, along with antimony, silver and copper finds at the Shoeshine and Shadow prospects within the flagship Estelle Gold Project in Alaska's prolific Tintina Gold Belt.
Project-wide record
Nova's 2023 exploration and sampling program took in an extensive surface mapping and sampling program across the entire project, consisting of more than 45 traverses covering 100 line kilometres, 674 soil samples, 446 rock samples and 21 stream sediment samples.
The program, led by the company’s head of exploration Hans Hoffman, has so far yielded a project-wide record high-grade rock chip sample, clocking in at a remarkable 1,290 g/t gold at the Shoeshine prospect.
Along with the gold, early assay results reveal the presence of high-grade silver, copper and antimony.
Some stand-out results at Shoeshine include:
- 1,290 g/t gold, 591 g/t silver, 1.0% copper, 0.9% antimony;
- 96.5 g/t gold, 0.1% antimony;
- 57.7 g/t gold, 0.2% antimony; and
- 35.6 g/t gold, 1.0% copper.
At Shadow, results include:
- 44.2 g/t gold, 1.8% copper;
- 14.6 g/t gold;
- 7.6 g/t gold, 3.0% antimony; and
- 7.2 g/t gold, 0.3% antimony.
The findings, which are starting to flow back from the laboratory, have encouraged Nova to push on with exploration in the hopes of expanding its already large resource base within the Estelle Gold Project.
Sample E40820 – 1,290 g/t gold, 0.9% antimony, 591 g/t silver, 1.0% copper, 1,300.1 g/t gold equivalent talus sample collected in chute.
Drill results have also come in from the RPM North and RPM Valley drilling programs.
Antimony potential
These results underline the abundant antimony-enriched gold mineralisation potential within the Estelle Gold District, and Nova now intends to incorporate antimony analysis into its ongoing exploration and resource work to assess its economic viability.
The SK-1300 required for the US listing is now well underway with highly regarded Roughstock Mining preparing the report.
“Following in the footsteps of previous explorers in the region, Nova geologists completed traverses through the steep outcrops of Shoeshine and Shadow, stumbling upon a property record (by nearly 1kg/t!) 1,290 g/t gold sample,” Hoffman said.
“All the right pieces to a discovery are here: consistent high-grade soils over 1 kilometre in strike length, tightly stacked sheeted veins and high-grade bonanza zones.”
Nova CEO Christopher Gerteisen added: “It’s always exciting to report the highest gold grade sample assay ever returned from Estelle at 1,290 g/t gold which is world-class by any measure.
“These results continue to show the potential of the Estelle project. We will of course follow this up and hope to set new records as we move forward in advancing these prospects to the resource stage. Shoeshine and Shadow are situated just east of Train and Trumpet and are part of the same massive intrusive related gold system.
Significant potential scale
“It’s important to note that we have seen good antimony, silver, and copper results returned from this system as well. These recent announcements from prospects across the Estelle project show the significant potential scale and resource endowment that exists in addition to the large gold resources we have already defined at RPM and Korbel.
“The field exploration sampling and mapping programs have covered a lot of ground, including known prospect areas as well as new areas not previously touched. As results continue to be returned we expect further updates and possibly additional new discoveries to grow the Estelle prospect portfolio. More to come.”