Gold strike upgrade at Aussie explorer’s eastern European drill site

Drilling conducted as part of Metalstech’s (ASX: MTC) pre-feasibility testing at the site uncovered a gold concentration of 1.22 grams per tonne within the total sample size of 68.347 million tonnes.

Silver with a grade of 10.11 grams a tonne was also present in the material.

The testing indicates total estimated reserve sizes of:

• 2.686 million ounces (Moz) of gold and

• 22.210 Moz of silver (2.868 Moz of gold equivalent)

A world-class resource

MetalsTech Director Mr Gino D’Anna emphasised the updated findings add further weight to the already world-class resource estimate uncovered after previous testing in 2021.

“The estimate also captures the regional gold targets outside of the main Sturec zone where significant exploration upside remains,” he says.

“The expanded resource will directly feed into the PFS where the Company is investigating the potential to target a high-grade subset of the resources for a low impact bulk underground mining operation.”

Why this matters

In most cases, the minimum concentration of gold that is economically viable for mining is 0.2 grams a tonne, according to JORC guidelines.

The recent drilling program – which indicated the mineralisation zone for the gold and silver plunged in a southern direction – has been successful in identifying a new zone of high-grade mineralisation. This positively affects the outlook for the likely overall size and value of the mineral resource in the area.

Where is it?

The Sturec Gold Project is located in the Central Slovakia Volcanic Area in the Kremnica Mountains of the Western Carpathians. The Central Slovakia Volcanic Field hosts several silver and gold “epithermal vein-type deposits.” These included Banská Štiavnica, Kremnica, Hodruša-Hámre, and Nová Bana, which have in the past been important sources of precious and base metals.

What’s next?

There are areas along the direction of the strike zone – and also below the current known depth – where mineralisation has not yet been fully defined or explored.

The information outlined above will feed into the ongoing pre-feasibility study, which will determine the potential for a mining operation that is both high-grade and will hopefully have a low-grade effect on the surrounding environment. Large-scale underground mining will likely be the focus of the project.

Disclaimer: Market Index helps small-cap ASX-listed companies connect with Australian investors through clear and concise articles on key developments. Metalstech was a client at the time of publishing. All coverage contains factual information only and should not be interpreted as an opinion or financial advice.