Sponsored by BULLS N’ BEARS
Doug Bright
Litchfield Minerals has fired up phase three reverse circulation (RC) drilling at its Oonagalabi project in Australia’s Northern Territory, as the company goes hunting along its suite of priority geophysical and mineralised targets across VT1 and VT2 and the demonstrably mineralised Main Zone, respectively.
The program began on 26 March and includes seven holes designed to probe key targets to firm up the scale and continuity of the Oonagalabi mineral system.
The drill plan includes two holes at VT1 to test two ground electromagnetic plates with strengths of 200 and 3000 Siemens and three holes at the Main Zone to test potential fold-related repetitions and extensions.
Two more holes at the VT2 geophysical anomaly will explore the biggest induced polarisation (IP) chargeability anomaly and the northern edge of an electromagnetic conductor plate.
The latest drilling push follows the company’s 17 March operational and drilling update, in which Litchfield flagged that it had already wrapped up drilling at multiple Oonagalabi targets, including Bomb-Diggity and the Main Zone.
At the time, the company also reported its field crew had been building new drill pads across VT1, VT2 and the Main Zone to clear the decks for the current phase of RC drilling.
Litchfield has also been layering in fresh geophysics to sharpen its aim. In an early March update, it said the IP geophysics results strengthened its Oonagalabi discovery model.
It is encouraged by multiple chargeability trends coinciding with key magnetic features and indicating a prospective corridor between the geophysically anomalous VT1 and VT2 locations.
Management said at the time the growing alignment between the magnetic features and the chargeability responses was a good sign the company was on the right track for further discoveries as it pushes south, with drilling set to systematically test new targets and improve its understanding of the broader mineral system.
On the drilling front, Litchfield says diamond hole testing at Bomb-Diggity, the Main Zone and a magnetic feature have now been completed, sampled and dispatched to the laboratory, with assays pending, following a brief period of weather disruptions.
The company had previously noted it had been working through a sampling backlog caused by heavy rain, road closures and boggy access tracks, which slowed the flow of exploration updates despite its steady on-ground activity.
With the RC drill rig now hammering its way down the phase three suite of holes, the market will be on the lookout for fresh results as the company steps out along its conductor targets and chargeability anomalies.
If the latest program delivers the continuity Litchfield is chasing, the company’s Oonagalabi project could easily become a meaningful story for this Northern Territory explorer.
Is your ASX-listed company doing something interesting? Contact: mattbirney@bullsnbears.com.au
