Thick high grade gold hits boost Strickland Metals Serbia play
- Michael Busbridge
- Dec 1
- 3 min read
Strickland Metals (ASX: STK) has unearthed thick, high-grade gold at its Kotlovi prospect, which forms part of the company’s massive 7.4-million-ounce Rogozna gold and base metal project in Serbia.
The company says mineralisation has now been defined across several drillholes at the prospect, which currently stretches across a strike of 300m and remains open in all directions.
Standout hits included a high-grade 14-metre slice grading 4.1 grams per tonne (g/t) gold and 2.4 g/t silver within a broader 34.9-metre intersection running at 2.2g/t gold and 2.4g/t silver.
Another drillhole intersected two thick zones of skarn mineralisation including 14m grading 1.4 g/t gold from 318m and 24.8m at 0.7 g/t gold from 352m.
Sitting just 350m west of the company’s huge 1.28-million-ounce Medenovac gold equivalent deposit, management believe there is a real possibility Kotlovi and Medenovac may be connected. Although the structures are separated by a large quartz diorite intrusion, both appear to share the same skarn mineralisation.
Kotlovi was first discovered 12 months ago after Strickland tested a coincident multi-element soil anomaly and an induced polarisation anomaly. The drill bit went on to jag a whopping 40.3m intersection grading 2.6g/t gold, including 12m at 5.7g/t gold from regional exploration scout drilling.
The company then backed up that discovery hole with a diamond drilling program in August, which returned exceptional gold hits of 277.3m grading 1.3g/t gold equivalent, including multiple higher-grade zones of 33.5m grading 2.9g/t gold and 8.8m at 4.7g/t gold.
Kotlovi is continuing to shape up as an important new discovery at Rogozna, with the potential to make a significant contribution to the project’s overall growth trajectory. These latest drill results have further expanded the known mineralisation, which now extends over a 300m strike length.
Strickland Metals Managing Director Paul L’Herpiniere
Kotlovi makes up just one cog in the wheel of the company’s huge Rogozna gold and base metal project. Seven rigs are currently humming away across the wider project area as part of a 50,000-metre budgeted programme of diamond drilling for 2025. Assay results for the recently completed holes are expected to be released in coming weeks.
The Rogozna project lies in the heart of Serbia’s Trepca mineral district, one of Europe’s largest base metal mining centres. Access to the project area, which lies 400 kilometres south of Belgrade, is made easier by the many highways and well-maintained roads in the region.
Serbia is Europe’s second largest copper producer and is a well-regulated, established mining jurisdiction with a modern mining code. Last year, the country signed a deal with the European Union to create a strategic partnership for the supply of critical minerals used in batteries and electric vehicles.
Several other major global mining companies also have significant gold and base metal projects in country, including BHP, Rio Tinto, Vale, Zijin Mining, Kinross Gold and Dundee Precious Metals. Serbia has a highly skilled workforce and excellent infrastructure, as well as a highly favourable fiscal regime.
Acquired for $37 million in 2024, Rogozna benefits from Serbia’s 15 per cent tax rate and mining-friendly policies.
Strickland’s Rogozna project has the potential to become one of the largest undeveloped gold and base metal deposits in the world. No doubt multiple discovery opportunities and resource upgrades from its Shanac and Gradina prospects will likely keep the company extremely busy. However, the exciting possibility of merging Medenovac with Kotlovi as one large deposit is now likely to become a key focus in its resource development plans for 2026.
Is your ASX-listed company doing something interesting? Contact: office@bullsnbears.com.au
