Arika Resources begins drilling Pennyweight Point in Laverton gold blitz

Phase 2 drilling will test for primary structures and depth extensions to the shallow gold occurrences, a new era in exploration at Yundamindra.

Drilling has begun and will continue in the new year with a Christmas break. Pic: Getty Images

• Phase 2 drilling has kicked off at Pennyweight Point

• The program will test depth and strike extensions to a series of recent results

• The program will comprise a total of ~6000m of Reverse Circulation Drilling

Special report: Arika Resources has restarted drilling at the Pennyweight Point prospect, where a program designed to step out and test extensions to mineralisation along strike and at depth is underway.

The 6000m RC campaign will also focus on the Landed at Last and Bonaparte prospects, as well as following up the impressive results recently reported from Arika Resources' (ASX:ARI) maiden drilling, including:

• 14m at 15.48g/t gold from 46m
• 30m at 3.86g/t gold from 64m; and
• 33m at 3.35g/t gold from 22m.

The system remains open in all directions and recent geophysical studies have confirmed Pennyweight Point to be hosted within a structural corridor at the faulted contact between tonalite and basalt that extends for >2km to the north and south of the area tested to date.

ARI is set on completing as much of the proposed program as possible prior to the end of the 2024 field season.

Well-endowed neighbourhood

The Pennyweight Point prospect is part of the wider Yundamindra project, 5km south-west of Laverton and 390km north-east of Kalgoorlie.

Gold was first found at Laverton in 1896, with prospectors emerging en masse across a host of fields from the township itself to Mount Morgans in the west and Duketon to the north.

Nowadays a modern-day gold rush and the chasm between the ASX gold sector’s major names NST and EVN and the bottom end of the market has seen a score of miners consolidate assets in the region.

Yundamindra was, until earlier this year, covered by plaints that made exploration tough to pursue despite the project boasting historic production of ~45,000oz at over almost 20g/t gold. It’s the sort of thing modern day miners like to peruse to see if the old timers left a hidden more valuable orebody beneath their workings.

Scale potential

“Following on from the spectacular results returned from our maiden drilling program, we are excited to have recommenced drilling at our Pennyweight Point prospect,” ARI managing director Justin Barton said.

“The last hole drilled in our maiden program at the northern most point of the known mineralisation at Pennyweight Point, returned the prospects highest grade result of 14 metres at 15.48g/t gold, highlighting the significant potential of this prospect that remains open along strike and at depth.

“Results from recent data filtering technology applied to multiple regional and local scale geophysical datasets identified that Pennyweight Point sits on one of two major faults in a largely untested structural corridor trending NNE-SSW which extends for at least 4.5km.

“Extensive areas of previously unrecorded alluvial workings and historical shafts from the early 1900’s occurs along these faults which have never been drill tested, further highlighting the large-scale potential of the Yundamindra project.”

This article was developed in collaboration with Arika Resources, a Stockhead advertiser at the time of publishing.

This article does not constitute financial product advice. You should consider obtaining independent advice before making any financial decisions.

Originally published as Arika Resources begins drilling Pennyweight Point in Laverton gold blitz