Quarterly Activities Report
Melbourne, July 29, 2022 AEST (ABN Newswire) - The drill program currently being undertaken by Nova Minerals Limited (
ASX:NVA) (QM3:FRA) (NVAAF:OTCMKTS) will be the most important and transformational for the Company to date, with the aim being to increase the size and confidence of both the Korbel and RPM deposits for inclusion in the Phase 2 Scoping Study, due out later this year, and the PFS in 2023.
Korbel drilling recommenced in mid-May to infill the saddle area within the proposed conceptual Korbel Main pit zone with the goal being to convert additional Inferred resources from the 8.1 Moz total gold resource (3.0 Moz Indicated | 5.1 Moz Inferred - ASX Announcement: 23 December 2021) into the higher indicated category.
RPM drilling recommenced mid-June West of the major discovery hole RPM-005 at RPM North, where the Company hit an incredible intercept of 132m @ 10.1g/t (ASX Announcement: 11 September 2021).
Drilling commenced late June to test the RPM South zone, which exhibits the same geological characteristics and a larger surface sample anomaly footprint than RPM North.
Infill and Step-out drilling continues off the RPM Pad 1 (Figures 2 & 3*) to prove up and expand the existing 1.5Mozs @ 2.0g/t Inferred resource at the RPM North Deposit (ASX Announcement: 27 October 2021).
3 drill rigs currently operating within the RPM Main zone (Figure 1*).
Visible Gold observed in current drillholes (Figure 4) and selective sampling of mineralized veins in drill core return assays up to 1,330 g/t Au. (ASX Announcement: 28 June 2022).
Diamond drilling shows further encouraging results from the previous wide spaced program. (Figure 2 and 3*).
All RPM drill holes have been placed on rush order for analysis, but delays are continuing to be experienced at the laboratory level industry wide.
Korbel infill drilling for indicated completed with results pending.
The various mine and process optimization, material haulage and environmental studies for the Phase 2 Scoping Study, which data will also be incorporated into the PFS, and which will include both the Korbel and RPM deposits, continue to progress on budget and on time.
Additional reconnaissance exploration has also been completed across the wider Estelle Gold Trend to continue to expand on the exploration pipeline along the Estelle Gold Trend, with results to be released shortly.
Corporate
- Cash position at the end of June was $21.3M, and Nova continues to hold liquid and valuable positions in both Snow Lake Resources Ltd (NASDAQ:LITM) and Asra Minerals Limited (ASX:ASR)
- On 11 April 2022, Nova sold 3,000,000 Snow Lake shares at US$6.00 each for a total of USD$18 million. Nova continues to hold 6,600,000 shares in Snow Lake following the block trade.
- Appointed experienced mining executive, Mr Rodrigo Pasqua, to the Board (ASX 03 May 2022).
- Appointed experienced mining executive Ms. Anna Ladd-Kruger, in the capacity of an independent Non-Executive Chair of the Board (ASX 29 June 2022).
Next Steps
- Results pending for the RPM North high grade infill area
- Results pending for the initial RPM West zone
- Results pending for the initial RPM South zone
- Results pending for Korbel Main infill drilling
- Results pending from the additional reconnaissance exploration across the Estelle Gold Trend
- Metallurgical test work ongoing for the highly anticipated and exciting Phase 2 Scoping Study
- Environmental test work ongoing
- PFS studies commenced and discussion and early works with Whittle Consulting initiated
The company is fundamentally running on schedule to unlock the Estelle Gold Trend, a major gold trend in a safe jurisdiction.
Nova CEO, Mr Christopher Gerteisen commented: "It has been another very busy quarter for the Nova team ramping up the drilling program in the ongoing Covid climate, but with 3 drill rigs currently turning 24/7, and with the anticipation of the 4th crew to join shortly, we are pleased with the level of work completed and expect an exciting next quarter as the assay results start to roll in. Initial geological observations from the drilling completed to date are very encouraging and indicate that the RPM area of interest, now re-named RPM Main, may in fact be larger than first thought and contain a number of potential deposits throughout the zone at RPM North (With an existing 1.5 Moz inferred resource), RPM South, RPM West and RPM Proper. Once the assays get through the current bottleneck at the laboratory, we are anticipating results to which will show the potential for continuity of the mineralization at RPM starting from surface.
The work being performed now is to significantly increase the scale and confidence level of the mineral resources for inclusion in the much-anticipated Phase 2 Scoping Study to be delivered by the end of the year, which while limited to just indicated resources, will provide another snapshot in time focused on the expected increased indicated resources at Korbel Main and a small portion of the growing resource derived at RPM Main. With the inclusion of the RPM Main resources in the Phase 2 Scoping Study, it is expected that as shown by the sensitivity analysis, the improvements in grade, payback and the highest gold recovery of the processing options considered for the centralized Korbel processing facility will ultimately result in a much higher NPV and IRR, with minimal additional capital outlay required.
The results of the Phase 2 Scoping Study and the selected process flowsheet will then be carried forward into the Pre-Feasibility Study (PFS), with discussions and early works commenced with Whittle Consulting being involved and due for completion in late 2023. All this provides for an exciting year for the Company and into next year as well as we continue to unlock the Estelle Gold Trend".
*To view the full Quarterly Report as summarized above, please visit:
https://abnnewswire.net/lnk/9418N372
About Nova Minerals Limited
Nova Minerals Limited's (ASX:NVA) (FRA:QM3) (OTCMKTS:NVAAF) vision is to develop North America's next major gold trend. The company is focused on exploration in Alaska's prolific Tintina Gold Belt, a province which hosts a 220 million ounce (Moz) documented gold endowment and some of the world's largest gold mines and discoveries including Victoria Gold's Eagle Mine and Kinross Gold Corporation's Fort Knox Gold Mine. The company's flagship Estelle Project has a current total estimated JORC gold resource of 9.6Moz (3Moz Indicated and 6.6Moz Inferred). Estelle is a 45km long string of 15 identified gold prospects bracketed by the Korbel deposit in the north and the RPM deposit in the south. These two deposits are currently host to extensive exploration programs.
Additionally, Nova has an indirect interest in the Canadian Thompson Brothers Lithium Project through a substantial stake in Snow Lake Resources Ltd (NASDAQ:LITM) and holds a 12.99% interest in Torian Resources Limited (ASX:TNR), a gold exploration company based in Western Australia.
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