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Craig Nolan
Strickland Metals has jagged a series of notable base metal hits from drilling at its Obradov Potok deposit, part of the company’s hefty 8.6 million-ounce gold-equivalent Rogozna project in Serbia with early results hinting at an even larger system lurking at depth.
A scout drilling program at the prospect unearthed a 46m intercept grading 0.3 per cent lead, 0.6 per cent zinc and 2.4 grams per tonne (g/t) silver from 882.8m. The strike was backed up by a second hole that punched out 2.9m at 3.2 per cent lead, 1.7 per cent zinc and 19.2g/t silver from 848.4m, including a solid 1.5m block at 5.1 per cent lead, 2.1 per cent zinc and 32.6g/t silver.
A deeper 2m hit delivered 0.1 per cent lead, 2.3 per cent zinc and 10.2g/t silver from 950.7m, backed up by shallower intervals in a second hole of 3m at 0.7 per cent lead, 1.7 per cent zinc and 5.2g/t silver from 615m and 2.1m at a grade of 0.4 per cent lead, 2.8 per cent zinc and 2.9g/t silver from 693.4m.
A third hole continued the theme returning 2.9m running at 0.4 per cent lead, 1.5 per cent zinc and 3.2g/t silver from 484.2m and 3m at 0.4 per cent lead, 0.9 per cent zinc and 2.8g/t silver from 604.6m.
Importantly, the company says the drilling has confirmed carbonate replacement-style mineralisation at Obradov Potok along the same east-north-east to west-south-west structural corridor that links the Jezerska Reka area with the company’s 1.2-million-ounce Gradina deposit and 810,000-ounce gold-equivalent Copper Canyon deposit with the structural continuity a clear feature.
‘Scout drilling completed last year has elevated Obradov Potok as a priority target for follow-up exploration.’
Strickland Metals managing director Paul L’Herpiniere
Strickland believes the carbonate replacement mineralisation could represent the outer halo of a larger copper-gold skarn system with the potential for high-grade, bulk-scale mineralisation building towards the core.
Skarn systems of this type are often associated with large-scale deposits and can sit alongside porphyry systems within extensive hydrothermal environments. The company is planning further drilling aimed squarely at testing that interpreted core.
Geophysics is also lending support to the model. Management says the Obradov Potok mineralisation is associated with a major gravity anomaly, similar in scale to its Gradina, Shanac and Copper Canyon deposits. It believes the gravity data has highlighted two structures running east-north-east — west-south-west, with the mineralisation hosted at the intersection of the two structures.
Notably, the major deposits at Rogozna indicate a close connection to major gravity-high anomalies.
Strickland Metals managing director Paul L’Herpiniere said: “Scout drilling completed last year has elevated Obradov Potok as a priority target for follow-up exploration, with results confirming significant zones of carbonate-replacement lead-zinc-silver mineralisation.”
L’Herpiniere said Obradov Potok was initially targeted due to a combination geochemical soil anomalism, induced-polarisation (IP) and gravity anomalism within the network of ore-controlling structures hosting large-scale mineralisation across the Rogozna project.
The network of ore-controlling structures is now increasingly recognised at Rogozna as vital to hosting the huge bounty of mineral resources at the Serbian site. Further exploration is planned on the structural framework to enable the company to home-in on potential intersections of valid interpreted structures.
The company believes the carbonate replacement lead-zinc-silver mineralisation found at Obradov is akin to what would be expected in the outer zones of a skarn-style deposit, with an expected transition to gold-dominant mineralisation closer to the heart of the system, and eventually copper-gold in the true core of the skarn system.
Strickland plans to soon begin follow-up drilling and is modelling recent drilling results at its heavyweight Shanac deposit, containing 5.3 million gold-equivalent ounces, with an updated mineral resource expected to be revealed this month.
The company’s current 211 million tonne gangbuster resource tips the scales at a solid 1.3g/t for a whopping 8.6 million gold-equivalent ounces and consists of 5.2 million-ounces of gold, 321,000 tonnes of copper, 32.3 million-ounces of silver, 383,000 tonnes of lead and 830,000 tonnes of zinc.
While base and precious metal prices have steadied in recent sessions amid easing geopolitical tensions, Rogozna’s scale and growing geological coherence are starting to stand on their own. And if Obradov Potok does indeed vector into a meaningful skarn core, Strickland may not need much more to push its already sizeable inventory toward that psychologically important 10-million-ounce gold-equivalent mark.
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