EXPLORATION is under way at the Burnside and Moline exploration project areas of PNX Metals in Australia’s Northern Territory. The aim is to delineate high-value gold or base metals deposits that can be treated through a process plant proposed for the company’s Hayes Creek project or through existing free-gold milling infrastructure.

The Hayes Creek Gold Project of PNX Metals is in the north of the Northern Territory with a number of other prospects in the vicinity.

The company plans 21 reverse circulation holes to commence early July at the Moline project with the aim of extending gold and base metals sulphide mineralisation identified in 2016. Drilling will target the School, Moline, Tumbling Dice and Redback prospects.

At School, previous PNX drilling intersected significant mineralisation only 50 metres below the historical pit, including 9 metres @ 2.66 g/t gold from 68 metres in the western lode and 7 metres @ 11.89 g/t from 115 metres in the eastern lode, including 3 metres @ 23.79 g/t.

At Moline and Tumbling Dice, PNX intersected zinc-gold-silver-lead rich sulphides which remain open down-dip and along strike. Previous results included 2 metres @ 4.66 g/t gold, 177 g/t silver, 4.92% zinc and 4.41% lead from 89 metres at Moline; and 30 metres @ 2.29g/t gold and 0.70% zinc from 78 metres including 3 metres at 6.58 g/t gold at Tumbling Dice

PNX also plans 15 reverse circulation holes at the Cookies Corner gold prospect within the Burnside project. This is a large 1km-long gold in soils anomaly 40km northwest of Hayes Creek. Limited but encouraging historical exploration features 3 metres @ 19.7 g/t gold from 3 metres and 29.3 g/t gold rock chip assays.

PNX will also fly an airborne geophysical survey over the Hayes Creek project area, to include the new Margaret volcanogenic massive sulphide (VMS) prospect, where field work has defined a large, 1km-long lead-zinc-gold in soils anomaly.

This will assist in identifying extensions to existing mineralisation at the Mt Bonnie and Iron Blow deposits, and new targets with VMS potential. These deposits form part of the Hayes Creek Project, for which a prefeasibility study is due shortly to expand on a 2016 scoping study.

Hayes Creek hosts indicated and inferred resources of 4.1 million tonnes containing 177,200 tonnes of zinc, 238,000 ounces of gold, 16.2 million ounces of silver, 37,000 tonnes of lead and 10,050 tonnes of copper.