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- Gold explorer Middle Island (MDI) has released its quarterly report for the period ending December 31, 2020
- Phase three drilling at the Sandstone gold project was well underway in the quarter, with findings at the McClaren and Ridge deposits driving the project’s mineral resource to 746,000 ounces gold
- Its concurrent Barkley copper-gold project in Northern Territory is set to kick-off between April and October this year once further iron-oxide mineral potential has been clarified
- The company says it remains debt-free and adequately-funded to complete the Sandstone feasibility program and study in February
- Investors have responded somewhat unfavourably to the announcement, with MDI shares down 3.57 per cent trading at 33.8 cents each
Gold explorer Middle Island (MDI) has released its quarterly report for the period ending December 31, 2020.
Sandstone
MDI pushed ahead with developments at its Sandstone Gold project in West Australia towards the end of the year, completing a further 16,000 metres of resource definition and exploration drilling in phase three of the project.
Phase three reverse circulation drilling commenced in October 2020 and is set to continue with a further approximate of 5000 metres of infill and extension definition and drilling in the Shillington, Ridge, McIntyre and Shillington Gap areas.
EMN anticipates rounding up this phase during the March quarter.
It takes the company’s drilling and resource definition to roughly 54,000 metres over the 2020 calendar year.
Findings at the McClaren deposit have been particularly prospective, with intercepts of three metres at 29.8g/t gold and four metres at 5.82g/t gold.
Notable findings from the neighbouring Ridge deposit include seven metres at 6.49g/t gold and four metres at 5.32g/t gold.
The findings at Ridge and McClaren deposits brought Sandstone’s maiden and upgraded mineral resource to 746,000 ounces gold at the end of the December quarter.
Middle Island says a feasibility study for Sandstone is set for completion in February.
Barkley copper-gold
The explorer says it has identified “significant” surface copper oxide mineralisation at the new Crosswinds project within the Barkley copper-gold project in the Northern Territory.
Spot pXRF readings range from 24.8 per cent to 76.2 per cent copper, and composite chip sampling assays of 130 metres at 0.76 per cent copper.
MDI plans to kick-off exploration at the project during the next dry season —between April and October this year — once results of the federal and state government’s stratigraphic basement diamond drilling program are released.
These results are hoped to provide further clarification on the iron-oxide mineral potential at the project.
Finances
In terms of financial matters, Middle Island held aggregated cash and
investments of $6.67 million, comprising $2.54 million in cash and $4.13 million in Tajiri Resources Corporation and Alto Metals (AME) shares.
The company says it remains debt-free and adequately-funded to complete the
Sandstone feasibility program and study.
Investors have responded somewhat unfavourably to the announcement, with MDI shares down 3.57 per cent trading at 33.8 cents each at 1:26 pm AEDT.
