The mining newspaper for Alaska and Canada's North
The mining newspaper for Alaska and Canada's North
North of 60 Mining News - October 16, 2024
Nova Minerals' 2024 drill program focused on upgrading resources within the RPM gold deposit at Estelle.
A two-meter-thick vein with high-grade stibnite, an antimony mineral, at the Stibium target.
Nova Minerals Ltd. Oct. 16 reported additional thick zones of strong gold mineralization in the second batch of assays from its 21-hole drill program focused on upgrading and expanding the RPM deposit. This expansion is in preparation for the completion of a feasibility study for its Estelle gold-antimony project roughly 100 miles (160 kilometers) northwest of Anchorage, Alaska.
According to an S-K 1300-compliant calculation completed early this year, Estelle hosts 244 million metric tons of measured and indicated resources averaging 0.3 grams per metric ton (2.72 million ounces) gold, plus 231 million metric tons of inferred resource averaging 0.3 g/t (2.45 million oz) gold.
This resource is divided into two project areas: the large bulk-tonnage Korbel area at the north end of the 198-square-mile (514 square kilometers) Estelle property and the higher-grade RPM area about 16 miles (25 kilometers) to the south.
A feasibility study currently underway will detail the economic and engineering parameters of establishing an initial mine at RPM that can be scaled up to a larger operation, taking full advantage of the gold outlined so far at Estelle.
The adjacent North and South deposits at RPM host 4.4 million metric tons of measured and indicated resources averaging 2.5 g/t (330,000 oz) gold, plus 46 million metric tons of inferred resource averaging 0.5 g/t (800,000 oz) gold.
This resource, however, does not include the results from approximately 6,600 meters of drilling completed in 2023. These results, along with the drilling completed this year, will be incorporated into an updated RPM resource for the feasibility study.
Earlier this month, Nova reported the first batch of assays from its 2024 drilling at RPM. Highlights include:
• 43 meters averaging 4.4 g/t gold from a depth of two meters in hole RPMRC-24005.
• 21 meters averaging 3.5 g/t gold from a depth of two meters in hole RPMRC-24006.
• 45 meters averaging 3.4 g/t gold from surface in hole RPMRC-24008.
The second batch of assays from the resource upgrade drilling at RPM include similar intercepts of strong gold mineralization from surface. Highlights include:
• 46 meters averaging 1.9 g/t gold from a depth of one meter in hole RPMRC-24009, including two meters averaging 14.4 g/t gold.
• 38 meters averaging 1.9 g/t gold from a depth of three meters in hole RPMRC-24012, including five meters averaging 5.8 g/t gold.
• 26 meters averaging 3.7 g/t gold from surface in hole RPMRC-24015, including five meters averaging 14 g/t gold.
• 39 meters averaging 5.4 g/t gold from surface in hole RPMRC-24016, including 12 meters averaging 15.3 g/t gold.
"We continue to hit broad intercepts of high-grade mineralization which bodes well for the upcoming resource update and PFS (prefeasibility study), which will be focused on RPM as a scale-able low capex/high margin project with future expansion plans into the larger project achieved through cashflow," said Nova Minerals CEO Christopher Gerteisen.
With this second batch of assays, Nova has received the results from 15 out of the 21 holes drilled this year.
In addition to results from the six outstanding drill holes, Nova is awaiting assays from more than 500 soil and 225 rock samples collected during an extensive exploration and mapping program targeting gold, antimony and other critical minerals across the Estelle property.
A similar property-wide exploration program carried out in 2023 discovered high-grade antimony, copper, gold, and silver at multiple prospects. This includes Stibium, where one sample with 12.7 g/t gold, 2.1% antimony, and 1,600 g/t silver was collected.
Nova sees the potential of developing a pilot-scale mine at Stibium that could provide a near-term source of antimony, a critical metalloid that is a top concern for many U.S. Department of Defense officials due to its use in military hardware and the dearth of antimony mines in the United States.
A two-meter-thick vein with high-grade stibnite, an antimony mineral, at the Stibium target.
Earlier this year, Nova's geological team collected a 2,500-kilogram sample from Stibium for metallurgical testing at laboratories in Alaska and Australia.
Gerteisen is in talks with high-level DOD officials about the potential of developing a pilot-scale operation at Stibium.
The company's current focus, however, is on updating the resource at RPM that will lay the foundation for a feasibility study that will provide the economic and engineering details for a starter mine at this higher-grade gold deposit.
"We look forward to updating all stakeholders on these fronts as we continue to progress on our path towards production and early cashflow at RPM within the greater Estelle gold and critical minerals district," said Gerteisen.
Over his more than 16 years of covering mining and mineral exploration, Shane has become renowned for his ability to report on the sector in a way that is technically sound enough to inform industry insiders while being easy to understand by a wider audience.
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