Peako Ltd (ASX:PKO) has started its 2021 field campaign at the East Kimberley Gold-Copper Project in Western Australia with a team mobilised to the project area.
The team is undertaking final target ground validation and preparatory work for a phase-I aircore program scheduled to begin next month.
The company has defined 29 highly prospective targets across nine prospect areas on its Eastman (E80/4990) tenement for final field checking before subsequent drill testing.
Ped prospects were identified using Peako’s extensive data library integrated with 2020 fieldwork and newly acquired spectral imagery data suites.
Targets incorporate a range of encouraging geological features including anomalous gold geochemistry (soil, rock, drilling), geophysics (VTEM, magnetics) and prospective structure as well as encouraging satellite spectral imagery alteration indicators.
First phase of field campaign
The first phase of its 2021 field campaign incorporates field checking validation and tightening of target zones to be followed by initial aircore drilling of the prioritised targets, scheduled to start in May 2021.
Drill testing between 6,000 metres to 8,000 metres will be spread across priority targets with nominal line spacings between 100 metres to 200 metres.
Subsequent reverse circulation drilling is planned for later in the field season to test new and existing high priority targets where historic datasets have defined ‘walk up’ drill-ready targets as well as targets with encouraging aircore results from the May program.
Government support
Peako’s 2021 aircore and RC drilling activities are supported by two WA Government Exploration Incentive Scheme (EIS) co-funded drilling grants totalling $320,000.
The Round 21 EIS grant is for $150,000 to cover 50% of direct drilling costs incurred prior to June 30, 2021.
A further $150,000 applies to the Round 22 grant for 50% of direct drilling costs incurred prior to December 31, 2021, as well as up to $20,000 towards mobilisation costs.
Gold potential at tenement area
Peako’s Eastman (E80/4990) tenement area has been the subject of very little gold exploration historically with few explorers analysing their soil, rock or drill samples for gold.
The Eastman tenement’s potential prospectivity for gold is validated by a known gold signature as demonstrated by Peako’s 2019 RC drilling results, as well as historical rock chip results that include rock samples with up to 11.7 g/t gold.
In 2019, RC drilling results identified latent gold potential at Landrigan such as PLRC004 with 6 metres at 1.16 g/t gold and 27.27 g/t silver and PLRC001 with 7 metres at 1.1 g/t gold and 7.51 g/t silver.
Moreover, petrology results from 2019 RC chip samples identified the gold to occur as free grains hosted by deformed quartz veins.