Mandrake Resources Ltd (ASX:MAN, FRA:CQ4) has signed a drilling contract with Geodrill (TSX:GEO) Australia for a 3,200-metre reverse circulation drilling program at its 100%-owned Berinka Pine Creek Gold-Copper Project in the Northern Territory.
The program will target gold and copper mineralisation at the Terry’s group of prospects, as well as several untested geochemical and geophysical anomalies.
Drilling is planned to begin in August 2026, subject to receipt of an Environmental Mining Licence, with Mandrake having submitted its drill permit application to the Northern Territory Department of Lands, Planning and Environment in early May.
Location of Berinka Pine Creek Project.
Drilling to test gold-copper targets
Mandrake said the upcoming campaign would follow up historical and company drilling that confirmed gold-copper mineralisation at Berinka.
Previous drilling returned best intersections of 4 metres at 6.6 g/t gold from 32 metres, 6 metres at 3.1 g/t gold from 18 metres, 5 metres at 2.6 g/t gold from 30 metres and 6 metres at 2.3 g/t gold and 0.34% copper from 5 metres, including 3 metres at 3.8 g/t gold and 0.35% copper from 7 metres.
Mandrake previously carried out RC drilling at Berinka in 2020 and 2022, drilling 18 holes targeting gold and copper mineralisation.
The new program will test the existing Terry’s prospect area and several previously undrilled targets identified through geochemical and geophysical work.
Pine Creek investment activity builds
Berinka is within the Pine Creek Orogen, a major Northern Territory gold province that hosts more than 20 million ounces of gold.
Mandrake said the region had seen renewed exploration and development activity, supported by recent permitting of three new carbon-in-leach processing plants and existing infrastructure at Union Reefs, which is on care and maintenance.
Active companies in the region include Agnico Eagle, Vista Gold, Hanking, Patronus Resources and PC Gold, which are advancing gold projects across the broader Pine Creek district.
Mandrake said this regional activity highlighted the growing investment focus on Pine Creek and the potential significance of the Berinka Project within the district.
About the Berinka Project
The Berinka Project sits on the western margin of the Pine Creek Geosyncline and is underlain by Early Proterozoic rocks of the Finniss River Group, including the Burrell Creek Formation and Chilling Sandstone.
The area is structurally complex, with major faults, volcanic units, intrusive rocks and sedimentary sequences creating potential for several styles of mineralisation, including gold, copper, nickel-PGE and uranium.
Berinka has been explored intermittently since the late 1960s by several companies targeting nickel, gold, copper and uranium.
About Mandrake Resources
Mandrake Resources is focused on its large-scale Utah Lithium Project in the Paradox Basin in south-eastern Utah, USA.
The company’s 100%-owned Utah tenure covers more than 93,000 acres, or about 379 square kilometres, and hosts a maiden inferred resource estimate of 3.3 million tonnes of lithium carbonate equivalent.
Mandrake also owns 100% of the Berinka Gold-Copper Project in the Northern Territory’s Pine Creek Orogen.