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Rowena Duckworth
Strickland Metals has once again demonstrated the scale and consistency of its Rogozna gold and base metals project in Serbia, delivering another round of strong drilling results that continue to push mineralisation well beyond the current 1.2Moz gold resource at the company’s Gradina skarn deposit.
The latest assays came from diamond drilling completed late last year and focused on the so-called “Gap Zone”, the area separating the northern and southern extents of the Gradina system.
The company says results from this zone are proving particularly significant, with multiple wide and high-grade intercepts confirming that mineralisation links up far better than previously understood.
Standout hits include one diamond drill hole with 68.7metres running 1.7 grams per tonne (g/t) gold from 368.2m, including two higher-grade zones trucking a hefty 24.0m at 2.7g/t gold and a solid 12.0m grading 4.3g/t gold. Another drill hole snagged an impressive 84.4-metre section going 1.5g/t gold from 499.6m, including 8.0m assaying a stellar 5.2g/t gold.
‘Drilling completed subsequent to the Gradina MRE has validated our view on the growth potential of the deposit.’
Strickland Metals managing director Paul L’Herpiniere
Additional strong hits were recorded across the Gap Zone, further reinforcing the robust geometry of the Gradina deposit, with broad zones of skarn-hosted gold mineralisation remaining open in all directions, including up-dip towards surface.
Notably, drilling has now linked what were once separate zones, boosting confidence that the existing resource has plenty of room to expand.
Strickland took the reins of Rogozna in July last year after completing a A$54 million (€31.8 million) acquisition of Betoota Holdings. Positioned in southern Serbia, 400km south of Belgrade, it lies within the Tethyan Metallogenic Belt, a world-class geological province known for hosting massive porphyry and skarn deposits.
Strickland’s four licences in the area cover just shy of 184 rolling square kilometres and include the Copper Canyon, Shanac, Medenovac and the Gradina deposits. The project already has a global mineral resource of about 8.6 million ounces of gold equivalent across four deposits.
Gradina itself emerged as a cornerstone asset last year following the release of a maiden 1.2-million-ounce resource grading 3.0g/t gold, positioning it as a likely early contributor to any future development scenario.
Strickland Metals managing director Paul L’Herpiniere said: “Drilling completed subsequent to the Gradina MRE has validated our view on the growth potential of the deposit, with numerous significant results recorded in the ‘Gap Zone’ between the northern and southern parts.”
The gold and base metal mineralisation covers an impressive strike length of more than one kilometre. It is hosted in a garnet-skarn envelope at the margins of quartz-diorite dykes – a classic contact metamorphic gold-bearing aureole system.
Importantly, the mineralisation geometry is controlled by bedding within the carbonate–skarn sequence, with deeper zones tending to be sub-vertical and upper portions dipping steeply to moderately towards the south-west. This orientation is highly favourable for potential long-hole open stoping methods.
The company is already planning its next phase of drilling with the Gap Zone and other areas prioritised.
With mineralisation still open, rigs set to return and gold prices sitting at historically strong levels, Strickland’s Rogozna project is shaping up as a rapidly growing European gold system that continues to deliver exactly what the market likes to see — size, grade and momentum.
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