Aureka, a recently relisted mining company, has made significant progress in its Irvine gold project located near Stawell in Victoria. The company’s ongoing 2000-meter diamond drilling campaign has revealed promising signs of sulphide mineralization in core samples. Additionally, a re-analysis of recent data has identified new targets based on geophysical data, further defining the gold-bearing Benno and Irvine basalt domes.

The exploration efforts at Irvine have been fruitful, with one drill hole already intercepting visible sulphide minerals within the Irvine Basalt and surrounding sedimentary sequences. These findings hint at potential gold mineralization in the area. Previous successful drilling results at Irvine have shown high-grade gold intervals, such as 5 meters at 10 grams per tonne and 9.4 meters at 5.3 grams per tonne.

Aureka’s Managing Director, James Gurry, expressed optimism about the ongoing drilling activities and the potential for expanding the existing resource at the Resolution lode. Samples are currently undergoing laboratory analysis, with results expected in the following weeks. The presence of minerals commonly associated with gold-bearing systems, including arsenopyrite and chalcopyrite, has captured the management’s attention, although further confirmation through assays is required.

The Irvine project, situated 20 kilometers from the operational Stawell gold mine, already hosts a substantial 304,000-ounce gold resource. Aureka aims to increase this to 280-420,000 ounces within the basalt domes on the property. The company also holds a joint venture at Tandarra, strategically located near prominent gold operations like Fosterville and Bendigo, which adds to its overall exploration portfolio.

In a strategic move, Aureka engaged Victorian specialists Nordic Geosciences to reprocess geophysical data from its projects. This initiative has unearthed new exploration targets within the Stawell Corridor projects and the St Arnaud tenements to the northeast. The structural contrasts identified in the data have the potential to extend historic gold trends, enhancing Aureka’s drilling targeting strategy for future campaigns.

With a substantial cash reserve of around $5 million, Aureka is well-positioned to drive its exploration activities forward. The company’s renewed focus on exploration, backed by encouraging drilling results and promising geophysical findings, sets the stage for a successful resurgence after a period of relative inactivity.