Astute Metals NL (ASX: ASE) has announced the commencement of Reverse Circulation (RC) drilling at its Needles Gold-Silver Project in Nevada, USA. Astute Metals is an Australian-based mineral exploration company focused on identifying and developing high-value resource projects. The company’s current drilling campaign will test a series of six high-priority vein-style gold-silver targets with an eight-hole program totalling 1,170 metres.
The drilling program will be undertaken by Major Drilling Group International Inc. The targets include Eastern Shaft, where rock-chip samples have shown grades of up to 33g/t gold and 622g/t silver, and Tomahawk, a 200m-long trend at the Tomahawk Mine with assays up to 5.54g/t gold and 406g/t silver. Further targets are Arrowhead Mine, Arrowhead East, and Whopper Junior, all showing promising historical gold-silver assays or pathfinder element anomalism.
Astute expects to complete the drilling within two weeks. Following the completion of drilling at Needles, the rig will be mobilised to the company’s 100%-owned Red Mountain Lithium Project. There, a major program is planned to lay the foundations for a maiden Mineral Resource Estimate by the end of the calendar year.
The Needles Project, comprising 216 unpatented lode mining claims, covers an area of 18 square kilometres and is located 92km east of Tonopah, Nevada. The project was acquired due to its geological similarities with bulk-tonnage gold operations in Nevada, including the 20Moz+ Round Mountain mine.
