Cohiba Minerals Ltd (ASX:CHK) has revealed that its tenement package in the Gawler Craton of South Australia contains strong potential for iron oxide-copper-gold (IOCG) deposits and as a part of its 2021 strategy, plans to aggressively undertake exploration activities.
The company has earmarked a budget of $3.5 million for the exploration of its Olympic Domain tenements beyond existing activity.
Exploration drilling accounts for around 77% of the planned expenditure with up to 19,000 metres of drilling planned.
“Potential for IOCG discoveries”
Cohiba’s executive director Andrew Graham said: “The company’s recent exploration activities at its Olympic Doman tenements, particularly at Horse Well, confirm the exciting potential for IOCG discoveries there.
“The company is planning an extensive program of exploration activity, including up to 19,000 metres of drilling, to further test for this potential.
“Financially, we are in a very strong position to pursue this objective over 2021 as well as take advantage of opportunities to grow our portfolio in the Gawler Craton.”
Proposed additional drilling
Following the exploration drilling undertaken in late 2020 over the Horse Well area, Cohiba has planned an extensive Program of Work (PoW) over the Horse Well, Pernatty C and Lake Torrens tenements in 2021.
Horse Well remains a primary target area with up to for 12,000 metres of proposed additional drilling.
One of the drivers behind the detailed investigations is to define future drilling targets more effectively given that they are deep-seated more than 900 metres with associated higher cost.
Well-funded to pursue exploration
The company is well capitalised to pursue its exploration strategy for 2021 with a cash balance of around $7 million on December 31, 2020.
Portfolio expansion opportunities to add fresh IOCG targets to the project pipeline being pursued.
Approvals received from the Department of Energy and Mining, SA (E-PEPR) and the Kokatha Aboriginal Corporation (Heritage Survey) in 2020 still allow limited drilling to occur over the Pernatty C area and this is being pursued.