AuKing Mining Ltd (ASX:AKN) has started a 30-hole drilling program over an estimated 7,000 metres at the Koongie Park Copper-Zinc Project in Western Australia.
This program will utilise both a reverse circulation (RC) rig and a multi-purpose rig that will drill RC pre-collars before converting over to complete the diamond drilling to greater depths.
The RC rig was mobilised to Halls Creek and began drilling on Tuesday, August 3, 2021.
AuKing plans to drill a minimum of 7,000 metres of combined RC and diamond drill to test mineralisation at depths of between 130 metres and 900 metres.
The company has identified 30 target holes at highly prospective across the Sandiego and Onedin deposits.
Focus of drilling
This drilling program has been designed to focus on:
- Infill drilling at the highly prospective Onedin and Sandiego deposits to improve geological interpretation and resource confidence;
- Generate mineralised intersections for future reporting;
- Test potential mineralised extensions, especially at depth;
- Obtain fresh samples for further metallurgical test work – especially from the near-surface oxide and transition ores at Onedin;
- Enhance confidence and geological understanding of the extensive amount of previous drilling and exploration data;
- Obtain other technical data including geotechnical information and density data; and
- Equip most drill holes for follow-up downhole geophysics to assist in identifying possible off-hole conductors for future drill hole targeting.
“Very pleased” to start drilling
AuKing chief executive officer Paul Williams said: “We are very pleased to have commenced the company’s first drilling program at the highly prospective Koongie Park copper/zinc project in Western Australia.
“In a competitive mining and exploration environment, we have assembled the drilling crews, experienced exploration personnel and associated resources, despite the issues associated with ongoing lockdowns and border restrictions.”
First assays expected in September
The program is expected to take about three months to complete and first assay results from the ALS Perth laboratory are anticipated in September.
Drill results are expected to provide a steady flow of information which will be fed into an updated resource estimate for Koongie Park later in the year
Williams said: “We have a number of high priority drill targets and anticipate that AKN’s drilling program will provide the basis for regular result updates over the coming weeks and months.
“These results are also expected to establish the platform for an updated JORC resource before the end of the year.”
Project is underexplored
Koongie Park is in north-eastern Western Australia in the highly mineralised Halls Creek region and the project comprises 10 licences (two mining and eight explorations) covering an area of more than 500 square kilometres.
The asset has existing JORC 2012 resources of 6.8 million tonnes at 1.3% copper, 4.1% zinc, 0.3 g/t gold and 26 g/t silver.
According to the company, Koongie Park remains significantly underexplored at depth and along strike and is highly prospective for further VMS base metal mineralisation discoveries at depths below 150 metres.
The company has identified multiple drill targets to expand on the existing known resources at both the Sandiego and Onedin deposits, and both deposits remain open at depth and to the south.
Koongie Park earn-in
In February 2021, AKN entered into an earn-in and joint venture agreement with Anglo Australian Resources NL (ASX:AAR) providing AKN with the right to earn up to a 75% interest in the Koongie Park project by completing exploration expenditure of $3 million over a 3-year period.
This is in addition to the $1 million already paid by the company to secure an initial 25% interest in the JV.