Krakatoa Resources prepares for maiden drill program at Zopkhito antimony-gold project in Georgia
Krakatoa Resources (ASX: KTA) is fine-tuning preparations for a significant drilling campaign at its new Zopkhito antimony-gold project in Georgia, eastern Europe.
The company has an option to acquire up to an 80% interest in the granted mining licence covering the project and has commenced heavy machinery access and camp repatriation work in the lead-up to its maiden drilling campaign.
Scheduled to commence in early July, the proposed diamond drilling program will cover between 7,000 metres and 10,000m and look to build on the project’s current resource estimate of 26,000 tonnes of antimony and 7.1Mt at 3.7 grams per tonne for 815,119 ounces of gold.
High-grade antimony veins
Krakatoa is also planning to undertake adit drilling to target the high-grade antimony veins and gold-rich alteration halo in the footwall and hanging wall of the project.
“This is an exciting time for Krakatoa as we embark on the first-ever drill program at Zopkhito,” chief executive officer Mark Major said.
“We have planned for a comprehensive drilling program, with the aim to verify and expand the existing foreign resource estimate calculated from 27km of underground exploration drives and over 15,000 channel samples.”
“This work, along with detailed geophysical surveys, will enable Krakatoa to complete a JORC-standard mineral resource estimate for Zopkhito and undertake a preliminary economic assessment.”
Drone magnetic survey
In the lead-up to drilling, the company plans to complete a high-resolution drone magnetic survey over the project area, which it says will assist with more effective subsurface drill targeting.
Mr Major said the company will also consider testing a sub-audio magnetics survey, which could be highly beneficial in delineating structures and other geology that is detected by resistive anomalies in conductive terrains.
This work will commence once the company has re-established the camp and completed the necessary access roads.
High-value critical metal
Antimony is a market darling at present for its use in wide-ranging industrial and military applications.
These include solar panel production, lead alloying for car batteries, bearings, cable sheathing and tin alloys for solder used in electronics and plumbing.
China’s decision to restrict its antimony exports have also placed upward pressure on supply-demand and pricing.