Gold Road Resources Limited (Gold Road or the Company) is pleased to announce the commencement of diamond drilling at its high priority target Ibanez Prospect on the Pacific Dunes‐Corkwood Camp Scale Target, within its 100% owned North Yamarna tenements. This signals the start of activity as part of the prioritised A$30 million greenfields exploration budget for 2017.
HIGHLIGHTS
- Prioritised A$30 million (1) 2017 Yamarna Greenfields exploration programme commenced
- 47 ranked targets for bedrock and early stage testing identified through detailed exploration review during field season break
- Diamond drilling commenced at high priority bedrock target at the Corkwood Camp on North Yamarna
- Deep diamond drilling testing Gruyere underground potential to commence in first week of March on Gruyere Joint Venture
- Early stage drilling programmes to commence on South Yamarna Joint Venture in June 2017 quarter
Gold Road Resources Limited (Gold Road or the Company) is pleased to announce the commencement of diamond drilling at its high priority target Ibanez Prospect on the Pacific Dunes‐Corkwood Camp Scale Target, within its 100% owned North Yamarna tenements (Figure 1). This signals the start of activity as part of the prioritised A$30 million greenfields exploration budget for 2017.
Gold Road Executive Director – Exploration & Growth Justin Osborne said: “Gold Road has recently added considerable Yilgarn experience to its successful team behind the Gruyere discovery, who will be working together on this 2017 exploration campaign. We now have some of the most proven geological minds in the Australian gold exploration sector planning and executing this exciting greenfields exploration programme on our high‐quality ground within the proven Yamarna Greenstone Belt.”
“We have committed substantial time in the preparation and planning for our upcoming drill programmes to ensure our A$22 million contribution to the A$30 million 2017 budget is spent both efficiently and effectively. By implementing this well considered and prioritised exploration programme we have confidence that we will be drilling in the right places to maximise the chance of making the significant gold discoveries we believe remain within the Yamarna tenements.”
“Given the increased funding resources available to us post the Gruyere Joint Venture, the opportunity to accelerate this programme at Yamarna is an exciting one, and one that hopefully provides our shareholders with a more immediate exposure to the upside Yamarna has to offer much earlier than we had previously planned.”
(1) A$30 million on 100% basis of which Gold Road will contribute A$22 million.
2017 Exploration Programme
Exploration Review and Ranking
During the summer field season break Gold Road’s experienced geological team completed a detailed review of all existing exploration data across its entire 5,000km2 tenement package on the Yamarna Greenstone Belt. The detailed review has generated a list of 47 priority ranked targets (Figure 2) for follow‐up, including:
- Five new Camp Scale Targets
- Thirty‐one Targets for bedrock testing
- Four advanced Targets for framework drilling.
The list of objectively ranked and prioritised targets ensures the 2017 exploration budget is applied in a methodical and efficient manner, reflecting the Company’s previously successful exploration strategies.
Gold Road’s previous regional exploration strategy resulted in the Company identifying 10 initial Camp Scale Targets (Figure 1) through the cost effective use of aeromagnetic and gravity surveying techniques, with the first of those targets tested through reconnaissance drilling campaigns before being prioritised for follow‐up reverse circulation leading to the discovery of Gruyere in 2013. Reconnaissance drilling has since been completed on only three camps at North Yamarna and three camps at South Yamarna. With the additional three years’ worth of detailed drilling information and knowledge gained from the Gruyere discovery, five new Camp Scale Targets have been identified, along with a portfolio of drill ready highly‐ranked bedrock targets.
Exploration Budget
Allocation of the total A$30 million exploration spend for the 2017 drilling programmes focusses on the highest ranked bedrock and early stage targets (Figure 3). The budget has been allocated to:
- North Yamarna Regional ‐ A$15 million (100%)
- Gruyere Joint Venture ‐ A$11 million (50% Gold Road – A$5.5 million)
- South Yamarna Joint Venture Regional ‐ A$3.3 million (50% Gold Road – A$1.65 million).