Torque Metals Ltd (ASX:TOR) has executed a drill for equity agreement with Topdrill Pty Ltd in which 50% of the costs of an expansive drilling program at the flagship Paris Gold Project southeast of Kalgoorlie in WA will be paid in ordinary shares.
The upcoming infill and extensional drilling program of approximately 9,000 metres at the wholly-owned project is aimed at expanding gold mineralisation and building on recent strong results such as 35 metres at 14.12 g/t gold from 157.85 metres.
It will encompass around 1,000 metres of diamond drilling and 8,000 metres of reverse circulation (RC) drilling across several prospects.
“Cost-effective approach”
The agreement will see up to 50% of Topdrill’s drilling costs satisfied by the issue of ordinary Torque shares from its LR7.1 capacity, up to a maximum value of $1 million with a voluntary six-month escrow period.
Torque’s managing director Cristian Moreno said: “We are pleased to initiate this equity drill agreement with Topdrill, which aligns with our strategic goals and offers a cost-effective approach to our upcoming drilling campaign.
"The voluntary six-month escrow period demonstrates Topdrill's confidence in the Paris Gold Project and trust in Torque's technical team.”
The issue price for the agreement will be referenced to the volume weighted average price for the five days prior to the date of invoice.
Drilling preparations
Torque’s crew has mobilised to the site in preparation for works and the drilling campaign is expected to commence in mid-July.
This program is a pivotal element of Torque's strategy to enhance the volume of shallow, high-quality gold ounces for the purpose of a future resource estimation.
The new initiative will target significant gold intervals identified in prior work with the 35-metre intersection including 1.2 metres at 185 g/t gold from 174.7 metres, 4.44 metres at 20.82 g/t from 170.3 metres and 2.49 metres at 40.6 g/t from 167.8 metres. Other recent results include:
- 16 metres at 4.19 g/t gold from 66 metres, including 2 metres at 13.12 g/t from 72 metres and 2 metres at 18.91 g/t from 80 metres;
- 41 metres at 5.93 g/t from 188 metres, including 3 metres at 25.54 g/t from 189 metres and 2 metres at 59.35 g/t from 204 metres; and
- 39 metres at 6.05 g/t from 175 metres, including 9 metres at 10.66 g/t from 178 metres and 3 metres at 29.4 g/t from 202 metres.
These deposits are characterised by parallel structures extending 2.5 kilometres by 1 kilometre and remain open in all directions, indicating further potential for discovery.
Building gold endowment
“Results from recent drilling activity will feed into the strategy for this upcoming iteration of drilling, as we focus on infill and extensional drilling to build the gold endowment at our flagship Paris Gold Project,” Moreno added.
"Torque appreciates our existing shareholders and Topdrill's support and looks forward to delivering strong gold intercepts in the near future."
Future work
The company is making progress on a mineral resource estimate (MRE) for the Paris Gold Project MRE, with the impending drill program intended to increase the Paris resource.
Upcoming milestones for the project include:
- Follow-up diamond drill campaign at Paris west and Paris new discovery - ~1,000 metres;
- Infill and extensional RC drill campaign ~8,000 metres between HHH and Paris lodes;
- Diamond drill results from ~1,000 metres;
- RC drill results from ~8,000 metres;
- Paris Gold Project MRE;
- Soils campaign on recently acquired tenements; and
- Paris Gold Project exploration target.