Greatland upbeat on first set of results from Juri drilling

Gold-copper focussed explorer and developer Greatland Gold announced the first set of preliminary drill results from the initial 2021 drill programme at its Juri joint venture with Newcrest Mining on Wednesday, in the Paterson province of Western Australia.

The AIM-traded firm said results had been received for the first four holes sampled from the nine drill holes completed.

At the Saddle Reefs target within the Black Hills licence, an intersection of 3.5 metres at 1.88 grams of gold per tonne from 226.5 metres was reported, while first gold was identified at the Goliath Prospect, including a “significant” assay of one metre at 1.49 grams of gold per tonne from 651 metres.

Assays for the remaining holes from Los Diablos, Parlay and Saddle Reef and sections of the Outamind hole were expected for October.

A ground electromagnetic survey was due to begin in September to further refine and model various Juri targets, the board said.

The first phase of drilling comprised nine holes for 4,958 metres, testing five targets, including five holes at the Goliath, Outamind and Los Diablos targets on the Paterson Range East licence and four holes at the Parlay and Saddle Reefs targets on the Black Hills licence.

“Intercepting gold mineralisation from our initial assays is an excellent result. Greatland will now recalibrate our Juri joint venture targets based on this initial information as well as the assays pending from the five remaining drill holes and combined with the new proposed ground electromagnetic survey,” said chief executive officer Shaun Day.

“These initial results build confidence regarding the prospectivity of the assets under the Juri joint venture.

“With Newcrest funding the exploration programme, our Juri programme presents an opportunity to deploy our proven expertise and potentially deliver further exploration upside for our shareholders.”

At 1028 BST, shares in Greatland Gold were up 0.32% at 18.62p.