Arrow has received all approvals from governmental agencies and traditional owners of the land.
Arrow Minerals Ltd (ASX:AMD) will start reverse circulation (RC) drilling at its Strickland volcanogenic massive sulphide (VMS) project in Western Australia in April 2021.
The company has identified five high-quality copper-gold VMS drill targets using historical surface and drilling geochemical data followed up with field mapping and airborne electromagnetic surveys.
All targets exhibit highly anomalous geochemistry and EM signatures typical of VMS copper-gold deposits such as the Golden Grove deposit also in Western Australia.
Five “high-quality targets”
Arrow’s managing director Howard Golden said: “We have five exciting drill targets at Strickland.
“The strong discrete geophysical anomalies along with the coincident high-grade copper, gold, silver and pathfinder elements in the right geological setting have generated high-quality targets.”
Strickland drilling program
The Strickland VMS Project was historically explored by Arrow Minerals’ geologists for gold.
In 2020, geologists undertook a re-analysis of all the historical data at Strickland and recognised the geological and geochemical signatures typical of VMS copper-gold mineralisation.
Based on those findings and subsequent field visits, SkyTEM airborne electromagnetic surveys were completed over five anomalous areas.
The results yielded five drill-ready targets that exhibit coincident geophysical, geochemical and geological anomalism consistent with VMS copper and gold-bearing massive sulphides.
Previous historical work at Strickland comprised iron ore exploration and until 2020 has included regional airborne geophysics, surface sampling and shallow drilling, all exclusively focused on the search for orogenic gold.
Golden said: “We have planned a high-impact drilling program, followed by borehole electromagnetic surveys that will efficiently and effectively test the copper-gold targets within the boreholes and in the surrounding rocks.
First base metals drilling
The planned program will be the first drilling ever undertaken for base metals in this area of Western Australia.
Arrow has now received all approvals from the appropriate governmental agencies as well as the traditional owners of the land.
These approvals have enabled the company to finalise arrangements to mobilise a drill rig to the Strickland site in the first half of April to complete an initial drilling program.
The drilling will be followed by borehole electromagnetic surveys that will allow the detection of conductive sulphide mineralisation lateral to or below the boreholes to ensure that all mineralised zones are defined for further testing.
Golden said: “The Strickland tenement is situated in a province that hosts several VMS deposits, and represents a fertile environment for further discoveries.”