Nova Minerals Confirms High-Grade Gold at RPM North through Shallow Drilling Program, Shares Jump 15%

4 min read | October 09, 2024 12:05 PM AEDT | By Team Kalkine Media

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Nova Minerals Confirms High-Grade Gold at RPM North through Shallow Drilling Program, Shares Jump 15% — Image source: Shutterstock

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Key Points:

Nova Minerals confirms high-grade gold intersections at RPM North, with results showing up to 39.2 g/t Au.

The drilling results indicate near-surface mineralisation remains open for extension, particularly toward the South-Southwest.

The company is advancing its RPM starter mine PFS, aiming for a smaller-scale, high-margin mine to provide cash flow for future expansions.

Nova Minerals Limited (ASX:NVA, NASDAQ:NVA, FRA:QM3) has announced promising results from the first eight holes of its 21-hole reverse circulation (RC) drilling program at the RPM starter pit area within the Estelle Gold Project in Alaska. The shallow drilling program was focused on near-surface mineralisation, aiming to confirm high-grade gold deposits at depths less than 50 metres. These results strengthen the company’s plan to develop a starter mine as part of the ongoing Pre-Feasibility Study (PFS) for the RPM project.

Key High-Grade Gold Intersections

The drilling results revealed multiple high-grade gold intersections, confirming the continuity of near-surface mineralisation at RPM North. All drill holes ended in gold mineralisation, demonstrating the project's potential. Some of the significant results from the first eight drill holes include:

RPMRC-24005: 43 metres at 4.4 g/t Au from 2 metres, including 23 metres at 7.3 g/t Au, 13 metres at 10.7 g/t Au, and 2 metres at 39.2 g/t Au from 13 metres.
RPMRC-24006: 21 metres at 3.5 g/t Au from 2 metres, including 19 metres at 3.9 g/t Au and 6 metres at 7.1 g/t Au from 5 metres.
RPMRC-24008: 45 metres at 3.4 g/t Au from surface, including 31 metres at 4.7 g/t Au from 3 metres and 8 metres at 10.5 g/t Au from 22 metres.

These results indicate the presence of substantial high-grade gold deposits, which are crucial for the development of the RPM starter mine.

Extension of Mineralisation Beyond Current Resource Model

In addition to confirming high-grade deposits, the shallow infill and step-out drilling revealed that the mineralisation extends beyond the current resource model, particularly toward the South-Southwest. Notable results from the extensional drilling include:

RPMRC-24001: 24 metres at 0.6 g/t Au from 6 metres.
RPMRC-24002: 45 metres at 0.6 g/t Au from 3 metres, including 20 metres at 1.1 g/t Au and 12 metres at 1.5 g/t Au from 26 metres.
RPMRC-24003: 25 metres at 0.5 g/t Au from 17 metres.
RPMRC-24004: 31 metres at 0.6 g/t Au from 3 metres.

These results suggest that the gold deposit remains wide open, offering further potential for resource expansion at RPM North.

Ongoing and Upcoming Exploration

Nova Minerals is awaiting the assay results from 13 remaining drill holes in the 2024 program, which are expected to further define the mineralisation and add to the resource model. In addition, the company is processing over 500 soil and 225 rock samples collected from various exploration sites, including Stibium, Wombat, West Wing, Muddy Creek, RPM, and Styx, along with new claims added in 2023. These samples are part of a broader surface exploration and mapping program aimed at identifying gold, antimony, and other critical minerals.

Resource Update and Pre-Feasibility Study (PFS)

Once all assay results from the 2024 drilling program are received, Nova will proceed with a resource update that will include both 2023 and 2024 drilling data. This update is expected to significantly boost the resource estimates for RPM North, adding to the project’s potential value.

In parallel, the company is progressing with a Pre-Feasibility Study (PFS) for the RPM starter mine, focusing on a low capital expenditure (capex), high-margin mine to provide initial cash flow. This smaller-scale operation will help fund the expansion of the larger Estelle Gold Project in a more sustainable manner. Nova has also engaged several expert firms to assist with project optimisation, including Whittle Consulting for optimisation, METS Engineering for metallurgical and process design, and Roughstock Mining for pit and engineering design.

Following the update, NVA’s share price jumped 15% at the time of writing on 9 October 2024.

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