Strickland Metals drilling bumps Serbian deposit closer to maiden resource
- Craig Nolan
- Sep 30
- 3 min read
Strickland Metals’ (ASX: STK) latest drilling has bolstered its Gradina deposit, punting it closer to a mineral resource goal line, with a series of thick mineralised intersections identified from the program.
Assay results from drilling at the northern and southern ends of Gradina highlighted multiple thick gold intervals, including 49 metres grading 1.4 grams per tonne (g/t) gold from 331.2m, including 14.2m at 3.2g/t from 365.9m and a solid 6m slice going 6.2g/t from 374.2m.
Further gold hits of 44.3m running at 1.1g/t from 479m, a 61.2m section going at 1.1g/t from 181.8m, including 5.4m grading 6.4g/t from 229.5m, and a 29.9m interval at 1.3g/t from 527.1m.
A 36m stretch encountered zinc along with gold mineralisation, with 1.5g/t gold and 4.1 per cent zinc from a depth of 250m. The intercept included 10m at 3.2g/t gold and 1.7 per cent zinc from 262m and a 12.9m run going 3.6g/t gold and 2.5 per cent zinc from 402.3m.
Gradina sits within Strickland’s stellar 7.4-million-ounce gold-equivalent Rogozna project in Serbia, a landlocked country in the Balkans.
Mineralisation at Gradina remains open in all directions, including up-dip towards surface. Significantly, eight rigs are punching into the ground at Rogozna, with three rigs focused on unleashing Gradina’s potential at its southern end.
Gradina continues to deliver impressive results, with this latest batch of assays continuing to expand the deposit and reinforce its importance as a key driver of the next phase of resource growth at Rogozna.
Strickland Metals Managing Director Paul L’Herpiniere
L’Herpiniere said the company had intercepted significant zones of high-grade gold-dominant mineralisation at the deposit’s northern end. It encountered extensive zones of gold and zinc mineralisation at the southern end.
The latest drilling forms part of an ongoing 50,000m drill campaign planned for this year at Rogozna, focusing on up-dip extensions and infill drilling of stronger mineral zones at Gradina to push towards a maiden mineral resource later this year.
Strickland, with a market cap of $360 million, is the envy of many small to mid-size gold firms. It has an impressive holding of cash and liquids, including a wad of Northern Star Resources shares, all to the tune of $52.4 million as of June 30.
The gold mineralisation at the northern end of Gradina is hosted within green garnet skarn and associated with strong pyrrhotite alteration. At the southern end, it is commonly associated with moderate to high concentrations of base metals, predominantly zinc.
Across the deposit, mineralisation geometry is controlled by the bedding of the carbonate, or skarn, sequence. The highest-grade mineralisation is also spatially associated with the margins of quartz diorite intrusions.
Strickland revealed last month it had discovered a new, deeper copper-gold zone at its 5.3-million-ounce gold-equivalent Shanac deposit, which is part of Rogozna. A three-hole diamond drill program returned a 1.7m interval grading an impressive 6.8 per cent copper. It was the highest copper grade encountered at the growing project.
A thick drill intersection returned 172.5m at 1.3g/t gold-equivalent from 322.6m, which included gold-equivalent hits of 32m going 1.2g/t from 322.6m, 58.5m grading 2.7g/t from 436.6m and 10m running 3.1g/t from 452.1m.
Within the 172.5m interval, a new copper-gold discovery zone kicked up significant gold-equivalent results of 21.6m at 3.7g/t from 473.5m, including a solid 5.7m slice going 9.7g/t from 489.4m.
A further ripsnorter 309.3m hit graded 1.2g/t gold-equivalent from 264.3m, including a long gold-equivalent intersection of 102.4m at 2g/t from 471.2m, which contained a 61.8m section at 2.4g/t from 505.2m. A new copper-gold zone within it produced several head-turning finds of 18.2m at 3.7g/t from 548.8m and 6m grading 6.8g/t from 556.9m.
A further thick interval comprised 248.9m running an even 1g/t gold-equivalent from 257m.
Strickland now holds a significant stake in Gateway Mining, with 300 million shares, providing it with about a 15.7 per cent stake in the junior goldie, earned when Strickland sold its Yandal gold project in Western Australia to Gateway.
The price of gold is still going gangbusters, touching a fresh record high near US$3870 (A$5862) per ounce today.
With eight drill rigs at Rogozna pounding out the metres and in hot pursuit of new mineralisation to define a maiden resource at Gradina, in conjunction with looking to grow total gold ounces at the project, news of a new gold price surge must be music to the ears of Strickland management.
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