Arika Resources has commenced mobilisation ahead of a drilling campaign exceeding 20,000 metres at its wholly owned Yundamindra and Kookynie gold projects, located in Western Australia’s Leonora-Laverton region.
The company said drilling is expected to begin within the coming weeks, with initial efforts concentrated on the Cosmopolitan, Altona and Ithaca prospects at Kookynie.
These sites were selected following recent technical studies that identified high-grade extensions as well as new discovery opportunities.
Recent geological interpretations and target generation work have also identified further drill targets within the broader Kookynie Gold Project area, widening the scope for potential discoveries. Additional soil sampling is currently under way to support these efforts.
At the Yundamindra Gold Project, planned drilling will resume at the high-priority Pennyweight Point and Landed at Last prospects.
According to the company, this next phase will build on the 14,752 metres of drilling completed between January and June this year, and will support progress towards a maiden mineral resource estimate.
Soil geochemistry surveys have recently been completed at the Emerald City target area within Yundamindra.
Results from these surveys are expected to help refine drill targets ahead of an initial drilling programme planned for later in the year.
Separately, preliminary metallurgical leach testing has begun on mineralised material from Yundamindra.
The company intends this work to provide an early assessment of gold recovery characteristics and to inform future development studies.
Arika managing director Justin Barton said the company was entering a particularly active phase of exploration.
“Arika is now entering the most active exploration period in the company’s history, building on the outstanding success of our drilling programmes so far this year, which saw Arika drill almost 15,000m of RC [reverse circulation] drilling across 100 holes at the Yundamindra Project,” said Barton.
“Over the coming months we will have multiple drilling programmes operating across both Kookynie and Yundamindra, targeting extensions to existing high-grade discoveries while also testing several exciting new targets for the first time.”
The upcoming campaign reflects a significant escalation in Arika’s exploration activity across its Leonora-Laverton landholding, with the company aiming to simultaneously advance near-mine extensional targets and greenfield discovery opportunities.
At Kookynie, the focus on Cosmopolitan, Altona and Ithaca follows targeted technical work designed to sharpen the company’s understanding of mineralisation trends across the project.
The additional targets identified through geological interpretation and soil sampling suggest the company sees further upside beyond these initial three prospects.
Meanwhile, at Yundamindra, the return to Pennyweight Point and Landed at Last signals confidence in the results achieved during the first half of the year, when the company completed close to 15,000 metres of RC drilling across 100 holes.
That programme is now expected to be followed by further resource definition work, supported by the metallurgical testing now under way.
With soil sampling, geological interpretation, metallurgical testwork and drill preparation all progressing in parallel, Arika appears to be positioning itself for a sustained period of exploration activity across both projects through the remainder of the year, as it works towards its goal of establishing a maiden mineral resource estimate at Yundamindra.
