Viking Mines (ASX:VKA) Confirms Gold Zone at Northern Duplex Target, Plans Phase 2 Drilling

 Highlights

• Additional assay results from the Northern Duplex target confirm the presence of a steeply dipping gold zone.
• Drill hole VKRC0068 returned 17m at 1.1g/t gold from 28m, including notable intercepts of 3.1g/t Au over 2m.
• Phase 2 drilling is expected to commence in early March, targeting a 6km-long geochemical anomaly at the Central Duplex Target.
• Follow-up drilling at the Northern Duplex Target to be included after pending assays are received.

Viking Mines Limited (ASX:VKA) has announced encouraging assay results from its recently completed Phase 1 drilling program, confirming the presence of a steeply dipping gold zone at the Northern Duplex Target, which is expected to extend to surface. The results were obtained from a scissor hole drilled towards the end of the drilling program.

In drill hole VKRC0068, the company has intercepted a wide downhole zone with multiple gold intersections greater than 1g/t. The hole returned 17m at 1.1g/t gold from 28m, including;

• 1m at 1.6g/t Au from 28m; and
• 2m at 3.1g/t Au from 34m; and
• 3m at 1.3g/t Au from 38m

4 completed drill traverses at the Northern Duplex Target. Image source: Company update

Four drill traverses have been completed at the Northern Duplex Target. The results reported so far are from the first of these four widely spaced drill traverses, with assays still pending for the other three, which are positioned 0.8km north, 1.7km south, and 2.8km south of VKRC0068, respectively.

Reflecting on the development, Viking Mines Managing Director & CEO Julian Woodcock said, “I am extremely excited by the results received which confirm the presence of a steeply dipping gold zone at the Northern Duplex Target. This zone correlates with the results seen in the previously reported intercept in hole VKRC0083 and confirm we have discovered a new zone of gold mineralisation in this greenfields target area which has seen no prior bedrock drill testing.”

“The Riverina gold mine owned by Ora Banda Mining (ASX:OBM) is located only 10km to the SW and has a surface strike extent of ~900m. There is ample space between our drilling to host multiple deposits of this size. “The tenor of these results is analogous to those that are commonly seen proximal to substantial gold deposits and means we have the opportunity to follow the pathway to a higher-grade zone. “We are focussed on delineating the extents of the target with further field work and follow up drill testing to establish if we have a new gold deposit by the tail.”  he further added.

Additional exploration updates

Viking Mines is initiating an infill auger drilling program aimed at reducing the sample spacing from a 100m x 400m grid to a 20m x 100m grid. Additionally, the company is obtaining quotes for a high-resolution magnetic geophysics survey, which will help to better define the structures being targeted.

Moving ahead, Viking Mines is preparing to launch Phase 2 of its drilling program in early March. This phase will focus on a 6 km-long geochemical anomaly at the Central Duplex Target. Additionally, follow-up drilling at the Northern Duplex Target will be incorporated once the remaining assay results are received.

VKA shares were trading at AU$0.008 per share at the time of writing on 19 February 2025.