Strickland Metals nails colossal 191m copper-gold hit in Serbia
- James Pearson
- Oct 8
- 3 min read
Strickland Metals (ASX: STK) has catapulted its Copper Canyon deposit right back into the spotlight with a spectacular 191.2m drill intercept from just 4.8m depth at its 7.4-million-ounce gold equivalent Rogozna project in Serbia.
The standout hole hit 191.2m of mineralisation grading 0.5 grams per tonne (g/t) gold and 0.5 per cent copper, including 110.5m running at 0.6g/t gold and 0.6 per cent copper from 68.6m.
The shallow, high-grade intercept ranks as one of the biggest copper-rich hits ever recorded at Rogozna, positioning it as a potential game-changer for Strickland.
Further sections of the monster hole came in at 25.9m grading 1.2g/t gold and 1.1 per cent copper from 97.9m, 20m going at 0.5g/t gold and 1.0 per cent copper from 159m and a higher-grade zone of 0.7m grading 3.9g/t gold and 5.6 per cent copper from 195.3m.
This result clearly demonstrates the potential to grow Copper Canyon beyond the current 810,000 gold equivalent ounce resource.
Strickland Metals Managing Director Paul L’Herpiniere
Strickland Metals managing director Paul L’Herpiniere said: “These results are a timely reminder that at Copper Canyon we have an excellent outcropping copper-gold deposit including thick and coherent higher-grade zones.”
The company’s flagship Serbian project already carries a hefty 7.4-million-ounce gold equivalent inventory across its four key deposits - Shanac, Medenovac, Gradina and Copper Canyon.
And although the 810,000oz deposit at Copper Canyon was always earmarked for further, extensive exploration, Stickland’s focus early on at Rogozna was always trained on its cornerstone deposits at Shanac and Gradina.
However, this latest result shows that Copper Canyon could become a critical piece of the future development puzzle, particularly given its shallow position and thick, coherent mineralised zones.
The hit came from the first of three diamond holes of a drill program designed to tighten up the higher-grade zones in the central part of Copper Canyon and probe an underlying gold-only zone picked up in desktop studies of historical work.
The big hole cut through green garnet skarn filled with copper and iron sulphide minerals, forming thick, flat layers of mineralisation shaped by natural faults and folds. Beneath the copper-gold zone, a flat gold-only zone remains open along strike, pointing to even greater potential.
This style of mineralisation matches the broader Rogozna system, known for large, skarn-hosted gold and copper deposits.
The company currently has a fleet of seven diamond rigs spinning across Rogozna, with three rigs entirely dedicated to Gradina, as it pushes hard for a maiden mineral resource estimate there later this year. Another rig is on Shanac and the remaining three are focused on discovery drilling across the broader project.
Further assay results from Copper Canyon and other parts of the current 50,000m drilling campaign are expected in the coming weeks.
Strickland has plenty in the kitty, with $52.4 million sitting in cash and liquid assets as at the end of June. This includes 300m shares in Gateway Mining worth $22.5 million, which the company picked up after selling its West Australian Yandal gold project to Gateway at the back end of June.
This war chest has given the company plenty of firepower to drive its aggressive drilling and resource growth strategy without any immediate funding pressure.
With a shallow, thick and high-grade copper-gold intercept now on the books, Copper Canyon may soon shake off its “side project” status and become a key growth pillar in Strickland’s Serbian adventure.
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