Arika Resources has begun mobilisation in preparation for a 20,000m-plus drilling campaign at its wholly owned Yundamindra and Kookynie gold projects in Western Australia's (WA) Leonora-Laverton region.
The company expects drilling to start in the coming weeks, with initial efforts focused on the Cosmopolitan, Altona and Ithaca prospects at Kookynie.
These sites have been chosen following recent technical studies that identified high-grade extensions and new discovery opportunities.
Recent geological interpretations and target generation studies have identified further drill targets within the Kookynie Gold Project area, expanding the scope for potential discoveries. Additional soil sampling is under way as part of these efforts.
Planned drilling at the Yundamindra Gold Project will resume at the high-priority Pennyweight Point and Landed at Last prospects.
According to the company, this will build on the 14,752m of drilling that concluded between January and June this year and support progress towards a maiden mineral resource estimate.
Soil geochemistry surveys have recently concluded at the Emerald City target area within Yundamindra.
Results from these surveys are expected to assist in refining drill targets for an initial drilling programme planned for later in the year.
Preliminary metallurgical leach testing has started on mineralised material from Yundamindra.
The company intends this work to provide an initial assessment of gold recovery characteristics and inform future development studies.
Arika managing director Justin Barton said: “Arika is now entering the most active exploration period in the company's history, building on the outstanding success of our drilling programmes so far this year, which saw Arika drill almost 15,000m of RC [reverse circulation] drilling across 100 holes at the Yundamindra Project.
“Over the coming months we will have multiple drilling programmes operating across both Kookynie and Yundamindra, targeting extensions to existing high-grade discoveries while also testing several exciting new targets for the first time.”
