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Solstice Minerals has its sights set on a bigger future for Nanadie, with the financial firepower to accelerate work at the emerging copper-gold project in Western Australia.
The company reported assays from 15 diamond tails and 26 reverse circulation (RC) holes in the quarter, 10,623m in all, and says Nanadie now extends over at least 1.5km of strike and 100–200m wide, open to the north, south and at depth. The standout was NANRCD005, which returned a combined 722.3m at 0.44 per cent copper (Cu) and 0.13 grams a tonne (g/t) gold (Au) beyond the current resource boundary. The interval includes post-mineral dykes and low-grade zones and is a downhole length.
“Nanadie is rapidly emerging as a substantial copper-gold mineralised system with demonstrable scale and continuity, with results during the quarter adding to our confidence in the significant growth potential of the deposit,” Solstice Minerals chief executive and managing director Nick Castleden said.
The current resource is 40.4 million tonnes at 0.4 per cent Cu and 0.1 g/t Au, containing 162,000 tonnes of copper and 130,000oz of gold. Solstice has not re-estimated it or given a date but says the eastern margin of the host gabbro is emerging as a key expansion target.
Solstice is progressively increasing drilling density within the resource area, with shallow RC drilling targeting a nominal 40m by 40m spacing, stepping down to diamond drilling below it. Assays are pending from 14 diamond holes and more than 50 RC holes.
Alongside the favourable drilling results, the company has a strong financial footing with $41 million in cash and no debt, meaning it could continue drilling at Nanadie with an eye to understanding the full scale of the gold-copper project. Exploration payments were $3.7 million in the quarter, and cash fell from $45.3 million. It is also assessing options for its Eastern Goldfields gold projects, Yarri and Ringlock, including a full or partial sale or a demerger, subject to shareholder approval, as it concentrates on Nanadie.
“Against the backdrop of favourable long-term supply-demand fundamentals, investable copper growth projects in Tier-1 mining jurisdictions are scarce. This is reflected in the growing market interest in our activities, with research coverage now initiated by six Australian and international broking houses,” Castleden said.
“Solstice is in an enviable position to maintain sustained drilling at Nanadie and unlock its full potential as a significant, high-volume copper-gold deposit on granted mining tenure and in a favourable WA Goldfields location. We have the targets and the financial capacity to aggressively explore this open-ended system, with the goal of materially expanding the [mineral resource estimate] over time.”
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