The drill bit at Foote’s Find also had its fair share of success with intercepts in high-grade clusters of 3m grading 4.65g/t gold from 30m and 3m running at 4.99g/t gold from 41m.
The mineralisation at both prospects appears to sit on the western edge of a north-south trending ultramafic and dolerite-hosted shear sandwiched between mafic and metasedimentary rock formations.
Another set of results directly to the east of the shear also lit up with high-grade hits and presents as a secondary drill target.
With the project settled and in Auric’s possession, the company plans to kick off an aggressive 20-hole reverse circulation exploration program, initially focusing on Amorphous, where the previously identified shallow hits need to be tested at depth and along strike.
At Foote’s Find, the drill rig will test out a couple of small open pits stretching across almost 300m of strike. The pits were developed by the prospect’s namesake in the 1980s, though Foote’s mining endeavours then were ultimately unsuccessful.
Further exploration in the 1990s by Resolute Mining involved plunging 21 reverse circulation and 11 shallow, 6m air core holes in and around the pits. Another explorer, Orpheus, had a further crack at unlocking the prospect’s secrets in 2020.
Auric’s clear long-term interest in the region was signalled after it signed a significant native title agreement in December across a broad 102,000km2 of Ngadju grounds, which include the Loded Dog tenements.
The company’s new deal with the traditional owners supersedes all previous native title agreements and provides a pre-emptive agreement across any future developments that Auric may embark upon.
The deal is the first of its kind in Australia and will speed up any future mining licence processes for Auric. It also provides a respectful and transparent platform, creating meaningful economic opportunities for the Ngadju people.
With the company’s sitting on a bagful of cash as its nearby highly successful Jeffreys Find gold mine comes to a close, Auric is moving onto its Munda project near Widgiemooltha.
It will shortly kick off a pilot pit to mine 6100 ounces of gold before moving to full-scale operations to extract a further 145,000 ounces in 2026.
The company is meanwhile building its landholding in and around Widgiemooltha-Higginsville – an area management continues to extol because of its superb geological setting, access to mining infrastructure and suppliers.
Auric’s latest move appears to confirm its ambitions for disciplined growth and strategic land acquisitions in high-potential gold provinces. As the drill rigs prepare to turn, punters will likely be laser-focused on what riches may lie beneath the Loded Dog tenements.
Is your ASX-listed company doing something interesting? Contact: mattbirney@bullsnbears.com.au
