AuKing Mining now drilling at Koongie Park with strong news flow expected
AuKing Mining anticipates first assays from drilling in September with the intention of an updated resource before the end of the year.
AuKing Mining (ASX: AKN) has started its first drilling program at the Koongie Park copper-zinc-gold-silver project in Western Australia’s northeast.
The program will comprise 30 holes for a minimum of 7,000m of reverse circulation and diamond drilling to test mineralisation at depths between 130m and 900m.
AuKing chief executive officer Paul Williams said the company was “pleased” to begin the first drilling program at the project, particularly during a challenging environment where rigs and personnel are hard to source.
According to AuKing, Koongie Park is “significantly under-explored” at depth and along strike and is “highly prospective” for further volcanogenic massive sulphide mineralisation discoveries at depths below 150m.
The project comprises two mining and eight exploration licences and spans 500 square kilometres in the Halls Creek region.
It has an existing resource of 6.8 million tonnes at 1.3% copper, 4.1% zinc, 0.3 grams per tonne gold and 26g/t silver.
Drilling program focus
AuKing’s program at Koongie Park will focus on infill drilling at the Onedin and Sandiego deposits to help enhance geological interpretation and resource confidence.
Other objectives of the program include obtaining fresh samples for metallurgical test work, generating mineralised intersections for future reporting, gathering technical data and equipping most holes for follow-up down hole geophysics.
AuKing expects the drilling campaign will take about three months to complete with first assays due in September.
“AuKing’s drilling program is intended to provide the basis for regular result updates over the coming weeks and months before establishing the platform for an updated JORC resource before the end of the year,” Mr Williams added.
Koongie Park project
AuKing is earning up to 75% of Koongie Park under a joint venture agreement executed with Anglo Australian Resources (ASX: AAR) in February this year.
Under the deal, AuKing must spend $3 million on exploration at Koongie Park over three years in addition to the initial $1 million paid to AKN to secure an the first 25%.
AuKing was re-admitted to the ASX in mid-June following an oversubscribed $7 million IPO.
Koongie Park is AuKing’s flagship project.