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Doug Bright
Momentum has continued to build for Strickland Metals at its flagship Rogozna project in Serbia. Fresh diamond drilling assay results have delivered robust gold hits from the underexplored Gap Zone between the more intensively drilled Gradina North and Gradina South zones at the 1.2-million-ounce Gradina gold deposit.
Standout intercepts from three holes, drilled 50m apart and targeting this 150m wide gap zone, included a long run in the southern margin of the gap zone of 60.8 metres assaying 1.9 grams per tonne (g/t) gold from 798.2m depth, which includes 31.2m at 2.7g/t gold from 814.2m.
That intercept also featured 8m going 3.5g/t gold and 8m at 4.4g/t gold, while three more mineralised zones higher up the hole gave up a best run of 3.5m grading 5.1g/t gold from 705.8m depth.
The second hole probed the centre of the gap, producing three separate gold, copper and zinc mineralised intervals, among which the deepest and best gold run was 5.7m assaying 1.1g/t gold with 0.2 per cent zinc from 583.6m.
‘These results build on the strong assays reported in February and provide further evidence the Gradina ‘Gap Zone’ hosts significant mineralisation.’
Strickland Metals managing director Paul L’Herpiniere
The final hole, plugged into the northern margin of the gap zone, delivered 17.1m running 1.7g/t gold, accompanied by 0.1 per cent copper and 0.9 per cent zinc, from 513.7m and contained a 9.4-metre slice going 2.2g/t gold with 0.1 per cent copper and 1.4 per cent zinc.
Gradina lies about 2 kilometres south of Strickland’s flagship 5.3-million-ounce gold equivalent Shanac deposit and about 1.9km southwest of the company’s 800,000- ounce gold equivalent Copper Canyon deposit.
All of the intercepts from the latest drilling at Gradina ran through the by-now-familiar skarn zone. Skarn is a coarse-grained metamorphic rock formed when hot, mineral-rich fluids from igneous intrusions alter carbonate rocks, such as limestone.
These skarns often sit adjacent to hornfelses, which are hard, fine-grained rocks “cooked” by nearby magma intrusions, with both rock types tied to the same heat and fluid source, typically a granite body.
Strickland Metals managing director Paul L’Herpiniere said: “Gradina continues to demonstrate its importance as a key driver of the next phase of resource growth at Rogozna, with the final assays from our late-2025 drilling campaign delivering more wide intercepts of high-grade, gold-dominant mineralisation.”
These holes back up the scale and continuity of Gradina’s gold and base metal mineralised zones, with the headline 60-metre intercept carrying strong gold grades well below the existing constraints of the resource model for the deposit.
Mineralisation remains open in all directions, including up-dip towards the surface, where historical soil geochemical sampling has shown promising results.
The mineralisation is bedding-controlled, with gold linked to altered, silicified and green garnet-rich skarn that hosts disseminated sulphides of iron, zinc and copper.
Strickland is well cashed up to keep the drill rods turning, sitting on $38.2 million in cash and liquids as of the end of December, topped up by a recent, heavily supported $55 million institutional placement.
The funding enables Strickland to maintain the pressure on its aggressive 2026 exploration program, which will include follow-up drilling at Gradina, planned for a March kick-off, coupled with modelling and an updated mineral resource estimate for the company’s cornerstone Shanac deposit, also slated for late March.
The new intercepts highlight Gradina’s potential to grow meaningfully within the gap zone beyond its current 1.2-million-ounce gold resource.
Follow-up work could also shed further light on the potential for resource expansion up- and down-dip and along strike. The end results could link Gradina’s northern and southern zones, and expansion of the entire deposit in strike and depth for a bigger, more cohesive system.
With Rogozna emerging as one of Europe’s standout undeveloped gold and base metals projects, Strickland’s combination of high-grade hits, resource upside and solid funding has positioned the company for a catalyst-rich year.
Is your ASX-listed company doing something interesting? Contact: mattbirney@bullsnbears.com.au
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