Antipa Minerals Ltd begins drilling at Minyari in Paterson Province

() has started drilling activities at the wholly-owned 144 square kilometres Minyari Dome Project in Western Australia’s Paterson Province.

The project is within 35 kilometres of Newcrest Mining Ltd’s () Telfer Gold-Copper-Silver Mine and 75 kilometres of Rio Tinto Limited’s (ASX:RIO) Winu copper-gold-silver development project.

This large program incorporating diamond and reverse circulation (RC) drilling will focus on the Minjari and WACA deposits of the 100%-owned project.

Minyari deposit is analogous to the Havieron gold-copper deposit and the volume and grade of mineralisation appears to be increasing with depth.

The 2021 exploration program to be undertaken by the company includes:

• Minyari and WACA diamond and RC drill program of up to 21,000 metres;
• Project development studies, including mining and geotechnical;
• Significant geophysical program – including downhole electromagnetic (DHEM), Gradient Array IP (GAIP) and detailed magnetic surveys;
• Greenfield RC ± aircore drill program; and
• Surface geochemical program.

Resource definition drilling

A large drill program consisting of up to 15,000 metres of RC and up to 6,000 metres of diamond drilling will start in late May.

The key objectives include:

• Test for both extensions to and new zones of high-grade gold-copper mineralisation; and
• Upgrade the mineral resource estimate which combined is 723,000 ounces of gold at 2 g/t and 26,000 tonnes of copper at 0.24%. The resources remain open down dip/plunge and along strike.

First drill assay results are expected to be available by early in the third quarter of 2021.

Project development study 

As part of study work for project development for the Minyari-WACA deposits, Antipa plans to undertake a mining study for open pit and underground operations.

This work also incorporates geotechnical evaluation and further metallurgical test-work.

For the broader Minyari Dome project, the company will undertake a DHEM survey to identify the location of potential high-grade sulphide-rich breccias similar to the Havieron ‘Sulphide Crescent Zone’.

Other project-wide plans include:

• RC ± aircore drill program follow-up of encouraging 2020 aircore results in the GAIP09 and Judes areas;
• Systematic surface geochemical program to identify further priority drill target areas;
• Continuation of the GAIP survey program started in 2019 to identify further priority target areas; and
• A detailed magnetic survey to enhance drill targeting.

The exploration program is solely funded by Antipa and will be subject to ongoing review based on results, field conditions, contractor availability and pricing, and other relevant matters.