Strickland Metals has achieved a remarkable result at its wholly-owned Rogozna project in Serbia, reporting an impressive intercept of 89.7 meters at 4 grams per tonne gold from a depth of 244 meters. This extraordinary result includes 24 meters averaging 10.5 grams per tonne gold from a depth of 296 meters. The discovery comes from the company’s first drilling hole since acquiring the project early last month for $37 million. Located in the globally significant Tethyan Metallogenic Belt, Rogozna has prompted Strickland to commit to a 60,000-meter drilling campaign to unlock its full potential, showing early signs of success.
The initial drill hole targeted a zone of strong gold and copper mineralization about 200 meters from the southern end of the Šanac deposit. This hole has greatly enhanced the company’s understanding of the local geological controls and allowed for the development of a more robust geological model.
The drill hole intersected three distinct geological zones of gold and associated base metal mineralization, totaling an impressive 293.9 meters at 1.8 grams per tonne gold, 0.2% copper, 0.4% lead, 0.2% zinc, and 11 grams per tonne silver—equating to 2.5 grams per tonne gold equivalent. The extensive high-grade skarn gold mineralization is found within the “central domain,” located on either side of a central dyke, and appears to be the primary conduit for mineralizing fluids. With this improved geological understanding, Strickland is now focusing its ongoing drilling activities on the more prospective parts of the central domain, which remain largely unexplored.
Shanac is one of four key skarn-hosted gold and base metals deposits at the Rogozna project, alongside Copper Canyon, Medenovac, and Gradina. Shanac alone contains a JORC-compliant resource of 4.6 million ounces of gold equivalent, contributing to a total project resource of 5.44 million ounces of gold equivalent.
Strickland Metals’ Managing Director, Paul L’Herpiniere, expressed excitement about the results, stating: “The results from the first hole drilled by Strickland at Shanac this year are phenomenal! Our strategy for Shanac has been to target the higher-grade zones of the deposit to upgrade the 4.6 million-ounce gold equivalent resource. Not only did we discover the highest gold grades ever encountered at the Rogozna project, but we also encountered extensive copper-gold mineralization further down the hole, including a ~109-meter interval containing 1.3 grams per tonne gold with 0.4% copper and multiple zones of massive chalcopyrite, with assays up to 11% copper.”
The company is advancing its drilling efforts with three rigs focusing on the main Šanac and Medenovac deposits as part of a 35,000-meter campaign to expand the mineral resource base and refine the delineation of higher-grade zones. A fourth rig is testing for shallow extensions of deep-seated gold mineralization at Copper Canyon South, where a previous drill result showed 38 meters at 3.7 grams per tonne gold from a depth of 760 meters. This rig will then move to the Veleiki prospect, a conceptual target with strong geophysical and geochemical indicators typical of copper-gold porphyry systems. A total of 25,000 meters of discovery drilling is planned across these high-priority targets.
This exceptional drilling result comes at a time when gold prices are reaching record highs, hitting $3,789 per ounce last Friday. Strickland Metals is well-positioned to capitalize on these favorable market conditions and will likely have much to celebrate at the upcoming Diggers & Dealers convention in Kalgoorlie.
