Nova Minerals (ASX: NVA) has confirmed further broad surface gold zones across the Estelle Gold Project in Alaska.
The high-grade rock samples outside of the current 9.6Moz Mineral Resource at Estelle, continue to unlock the district’s potential.
“These results continue to prove the exceptional exploration upside that remains across the Estelle Gold Project,” CEO, Christopher Gerteisen, said.
“The surface sampling programme in 2022, as part of our reconnaissance exploration efforts, has once again delivered more high-grade results in what appears to be another massive Intrusive Related Gold System typical within the Estelle Gold Trend, as we have already realized at RPM and Korbel.
“The Train area prospects, now including Trumpet, appear to be on one very large Intrusive Related Gold System, less than 7km North of the extremely high-grade RPM Deposit. We look forward to further exploring and drill testing the area in 2023, with the aim to producing a third gold resource in the near future, which provides a stronger case for another processing plant, located in the RPM Mining Complex.
“With more than 20 already known prospects, exploration work conducted to date has shown there is the potential for many additional discoveries across the Estelle Gold Project and as the field teams continue to systematically advance their focused reconnaissance exploration programmes, planned in 2023 and beyond, we are confident of making further discoveries like the recent success at the Trumpet Prospect.
“It’s important to note that Estelle is virgin ground and mostly outcropping throughout the project area. Making new discoveries does not require expensive, complex, deep searching exploration techniques.
“Our methods are simple, old school, boots on the ground, geologists observing mineralization on the surface at their feet and kicking up new gold showings literally every day while out there. This has allowed us to keep our cost per discovery ounce at less than A$4/oz. By this metric, Nova is a clear industry leader, and will continue to be moving forward. In time, we expect to define further multiple new shallow gold, silver and copper resources that will support our goal of steadily growing the global resource inventory.
“With an additional 30,000m of definition and extensional drilling conducted in 2022, the global resource is set to grow in size and confidence from the current 9.6 Moz and we look forward to its delivery in the coming weeks. Following that the Phase 2 Scoping Study will be completed with PFS level drilling focused mainly on RPM and now the Train areas commencing soon after.
“With long-term opportunity and the prospect of multiple mining complexes and processing plants across the single project, we continue on our path to becoming a world class, global gold producer.”
Geological observations indicate the new discovery at Trumpet, coupled with the previously identified prospects in the Train area which all contain high-grade rock samples, provides the potential for another very large Intrusive Related Gold System at the Estelle Gold Project.
Intrusive/hornfels high-grade contact style mineralization similar to RPM was observed across the Trumpet and Train prospect areas, making it a high priority RPM style target for drilling in 2023.
Additional high-grade rock samples (30.4g/t and 21.6g/t) collected in the area between Train and Trumpet are in line with NW-SE regional structural controls indicating the potential of another very large mineralized intrusive system with over 1.5km of continuity between the two prospects. Further work is planned for 2023 to confirm this connection.
For further information please visit: https://novaminerals.com.au/
