Nova Minerals Ltd (ASX:NVA, OTCQB:NVAAF) has resumed drilling activities at the RPM area as part of ongoing efforts to unlock the potential of the Estelle Gold District in Alaska.
This year's drilling program will deploy an average of three diamond rigs, operating 24 hours a day on a rotation basis, seven days a week.
Comprehensive drill program
The program hones in on the 600-metre link zone between RPM North and South and potential high-grade targets such as previous hits similar to RPM-005 – 132 metres at 10.1 g/t gold within a wider intercept of 400 metres at 3.5 g/t gold.
Nova Minerals aims to further expand the size and confidence of the existing 9.9-million-ounce gold resource through a comprehensive 15,000-metre drill program.
The drill program, which is now at the pre-feasibility study (PFS) level, has begun at the RPM ridge line and Nova plans to mobilise additional rigs to the Train and Trumpet areas in the coming weeks as new drill pads are constructed.
The primary objectives of the drilling program are to increase the drill density of the resource and conduct extensional drilling to expand the global gold resource.
Nova Minerals hopes to infill and expand the high-grade resource around the existing RPM North and RPM South deposits, where it has previously achieved remarkable drill intercepts, including significant gold grades in holes such as RPM-005, RPM-015 and RPM-008.
The ongoing drill program is flexible and subject to adjustments based on initial observations from the drill core. The company remains committed to monitoring the progress of the program and making necessary adaptations as required.
Noteworthy highlights of the drilling program include the commencement of drilling at the Train area, with the objective of establishing it as the third major resource area alongside Korbel and RPM on the Estelle Gold Project.
The company aims to develop the fifth significant gold deposit in the district in 2023.
Additionally, Nova Minerals is actively exploring options for a potential listing on a major US stock exchange to enhance its valuation and to gain a similar market presence to peers with gold assets in North America, including companies like newly listed neighbour US Gold Mining Inc (NASDAQ:USGO), Snowline Gold Corp (TSX-V:SGD), Rupert Resources (TSX:RUP), New Found Gold Corp (NYSE:NFGC) and Dakota Gold (NYSE:DC).
Preliminary economic assessment
Other upcoming milestones for Nova Minerals include the completion of the Snow Lake lithium preliminary economic assessment (PEA) in July 2023. The PEA will evaluate the economic viability of mining the Thompson Brothers and Grass River lithium projects. The company will also provide updates on potential US listing options, PFS test work results and trade-off studies as they become available.
Investors can anticipate forthcoming results from the RPM and Train areas, including drilling and assay results. The company will also release an updated global mineral resource estimate (MRE) based on the assay results, with a focus on improving the mill feed grade.
Nova Minerals continues its surface exploration mapping and sampling program, expecting results and potential new discoveries in the near future. Ongoing metallurgical and environmental test work, as well as updates on the West Susitna access road, will further contribute to the company's progress.
“We are very excited to return to the field again in 2023 to continue to build on the exceptional growth we have shown in just four years having now defined a massive 9.9-million-ounce gold resource across four large deposits on the district scale Estelle Gold Project,” Nova CEO Christopher Gerteisen said.
“Our team has already done a tremendous job setting up a highly targeted drill season designed to increase the resource at RPM and also to potentially unlock another RPM-style deposit in the Train area this year.
“As demonstrated in the recent scoping study, any results above the current mill feed grade of 0.76 g/t gold will greatly enhance the project’s already strong economics and we look forward to announcing the drill assays as they are returned from the labs in the coming months.
“Nova has also commenced discussions to potentially enable the trading of the company’s shares on a major US stock exchange later this year where valuations to our North American peers are currently much higher and we look forward to keeping the market informed as we progress.”