Duke Exploration Ltd (ASX:DEX) is approaching the end of its first year listed on the ASX, carried by highly prospective assay results from its Mt Flora resource in the Bundarra Project and solid financials.
A relatively new company, Duke holds tenements in Queensland and NSW where it is exploring gold, silver and copper mineralisation while also holding a 10% free carried interest (to bankable feasibility study) in four New South Wales copper-gold porphyry tenements operated by Lachlan Resources Limited.
Financials
Duke’s financial situation held fairly steady with modest gains. The company expended A$161,000 in operating expenses and A$2.37 million in investing activities and recouped its expenditure with a A$6.27 million gain from financing ventures.
This left Duke Exploration with A$10.19 million cash on hand last the end of the quarter, a solid four quarters of funding to see the company through the next calendar year.
Operational highlights
Phase 2 drilling was completed at the Mt Flora deposit within DEX’s Bundarra tenement in central Queensland, with strong assays from resource and exploration extension holes including:
- 2 metres at 5.49% copper, 60.15 g/t silver and 0.17 g/t gold from 206 metres;
- 9 metres at 1.28% copper, 22.07 g/t silver and 0.02 g/t gold from 259 metres;
- 3 metres at 1.4% copper, 16.03 g/t silver and 0.14 g/t gold from 159 metres;
- 11 metres at 0.4% copper, 4.82 g/t silver and 0.02 g/t gold from 22 metres;
- 8 metres at 1.01% copper, 11.9 g/t silver and 0.02 g/t gold from 18 metres;
- 4 metres at 1.17% copper, 25.45 g/t silver and 0.05 g/t gold from 48 metres;
- 4 metres at 1.3% copper, 19.25 g/t silver and 0.09 g/t gold from 58 metres;
- 25 metres at 0.6% copper, 7.49 g/t silver and 0.04 g/t gold from 219 metres;
- 13 metres at 0.55% copper, 7.19 g/t silver and 0.04 g/t gold from 248 metres; and,
- 15 metres at 1.31% copper, 7.11 g/t silver and 0.11 g/t gold from 228 metres.
There are 62 new intersections of potentially economic copper, silver and gold mineralisation from the new drilling that are not included in the current inferred resources estimate for Bundarra.
The copper, silver and gold mineralised area has increased to a strike of 950 metres, a width of 900 metres and to a vertical depth of 300 metres, which is 30% larger than the area that was used to estimate the recent Inferred resource reported on June 29, 2021.
Powerful new targeting techniques and new pXRF copper soil data confirm the potential for new discoveries of copper, silver and gold bedrock mineralisation along the eastern contact of the Bundarra pluton, which has had no historic mining or exploration activity to date.
About 54% of the prospective area within and around the Bundarra pluton remains to be soil sampled and it is anticipated additional prospective areas will be identified for evaluation and prioritisation during Q4 2021
Six zones of epithermal gold mineralisation were intersected in the first exploration diamond drill hole completed by the company at Prairie Creek from the surface to 150 metres down hole. Intersections include:
- 2.30 metres at 4.68 g/t silver from 7.00 metres;
- 20.40 metres at 1.86 g/t gold from 11.40 metres; and,
- 5.35 metres at 2.95 g/t gold from 38.10 metres.
The association of mercury and silver with the epithermal gold mineralisation suggests the hole has intersected the top of an epithermal low sulphidation gold system with exploration potential for deeper higher-grade gold mineralisation associated with feeder veins to the breccia-style gold intersected.
Next quarter work program
During the current quarter, the company plans to:
- Complete follow up geological targeting drilling at Quorn, Absolon, Isens and Rogers to allow planning of first phase resource drilling at the prospect that has the best chance of adding to the Mt Flora resource;
- Continue regional-scale pXRF soil sampling to cover the remaining unsampled areas of the Bundarra Pluton by the end of the year to help with further prioritisation of added resource development targets;
- Accelerate and extend collection of electrical geophysical data over the entire Bundarra Pluton to help with further prioritisation of added resource development targets;
- Start exploration diamond drilling to collect geological data to confirm targets mapped to date and help prioritise resource development work;
- Start scout RC drilling to determine the highest priority target for resource development drilling;
- Start development RC drilling to determine the highest priority target for resource development drilling;
- Provide all exploration diamond drilling assay results from the Prairie Creek gold project by the end of October; and
- Evaluate the results of the exploration drilling at the Prairie Creek gold target and plan next steps