Santana Minerals Uncovers High-Grade Gold at Bendigo-Ophir Project

3 min read | January 08, 2025 04:39 PM AEDT | By Team Kalkine Media

Santana Minerals Uncovers High-Grade Gold at Bendigo-Ophir Project — Image source: shutterstock

Drilling Results and Key Assays

Santana’s latest drilling program, which involved 17 diamond drill holes, has returned exceptional results. Highlights include:

16.4 metres at 5.7g/t gold from a depth of 167.6 metres, including
- 7 metres at 21.7g/t gold from 194 metres.

The program targeted the eastern and southern margins of the main ore shoot, aiming to better define the transition from pervasive gold-bearing veins and breccias to peripheral mineralization zones. These findings are expected to play a pivotal role in refining the mine’s design and resource model.

Optimising the Pit Wall Design

Santana Minerals’ CEO, Damian Spring, underscored the significance of these results in shaping the Bendigo-Ophir project’s development strategy.

“This campaign was focused on firming up the eastern margin of the RAS orebody to enable precise placement of the pit wall. This has the potential to reduce waste stripping on the eastern wall, thereby lowering pre-production capital costs,” Spring stated.

The insights gained from this program are expected to help Santana reduce costs associated with stripping waste rock while enhancing the overall economic viability of the project.

Next Steps

As resource infill drilling continues on the deposit’s eastern and southern fringes, Santana Minerals remains committed to clarifying the extent of mineralization, particularly on the steeper western edge of the orebody. These efforts are anticipated to solidify the mine’s design and bolster confidence in its production potential.

The Bendigo-Ophir project, situated in New Zealand’s Otago region, is a cornerstone of Santana’s portfolio. With the recent drill results revealing grades that are well above industry averages, the project is gaining momentum as a promising gold development in the region.

Market Reaction

Santana Minerals’ shares saw a modest uptick, closing 1.10% higher at AU$0.46 per share on January 8, 2025.

Disclaimer

The content, including but not limited to any articles, news, quotes, information, data, text, reports, ratings, opinions, images, photos, graphics, graphs, charts, animations and video (Content) is a service of Kalkine Media Pty Ltd (Kalkine Media, we or us), ACN 629 651 672 and is available for personal and non-commercial use only. The principal purpose of the Content is to educate and inform. The Content does not contain or imply any recommendation or opinion intended to influence your financial decisions and must not be relied upon by you as such. Some of the Content on this website may be sponsored/non-sponsored, as applicable, but is NOT a solicitation or recommendation to buy, sell or hold the stocks of the company(s) or engage in any investment activity under discussion. Kalkine Media is neither licensed nor qualified to provide investment advice through this platform. Users should make their own enquiries about any investments and Kalkine Media strongly suggests the users to seek advice from a financial adviser, stockbroker or other professional (including taxation and legal advice), as necessary. Kalkine Media hereby disclaims any and all the liabilities to any user for any direct, indirect, implied, punitive, special, incidental or other consequential damages arising from any use of the Content on this website, which is provided without warranties. The views expressed in the Content by the guests, if any, are their own and do not necessarily represent the views or opinions of Kalkine Media. Some of the images/music that may be used on this website are copyright to their respective owner(s). Kalkine Media does not claim ownership of any of the pictures displayed/music used on this website unless stated otherwise. The images/music that may be used on this website are taken from various sources on the internet, including paid subscriptions or are believed to be in public domain. We have used reasonable efforts to accredit the source wherever it was indicated as or found to be necessary.