Riedel Resources launches first Cosmo drilling in more than 30 years

• First drilling at Cosmo in more than 30 years
• Soil anomalies and interpreted structures guide target selection
• Geological information will help shape further exploration across the largely unexplored greenstone belt

Special Report: Riedel Resources has launched Cosmo’s first drilling campaign in more than 30 years, testing beneath gold-in-soil anomalies in a largely unexplored stretch of WA’s Laverton Gold District.

The 7000m-plus reconnaissance program is underway on the western side of the 580km² Cosmo gold project, targeting the Ironbar, Toecutter and Cheedo prospects.

Riedel Resources (ASX:RIE) plans to use aircore drilling, potentially supplemented by reverse circulation, to test for gold mineralisation and improve its understanding of the covered geology.

Cosmo captures more than 50km of greenstone belt and the initial campaign will selectively test targets generated by modern soil sampling and interpreted geophysical features, providing an initial guide for subsequent drilling.

Digging deeper after three decades

A long gap between campaigns comes with a substantial change in exploration approach, with discoveries in the vicinity of the 9Moz Gruyere behemoth few and far between since its discovery in 2013.

The last drilling at Cosmo consisted of shallow rotary air blast holes in 1995 reaching only about 5m, while the new program aims to reach the boundary between cover and fresh rock where possible.

Riedel estimates the sand and clay cover could be about 50m thick vertically, although it may exceed 100m.

Soil sampling has helped select where to make those deeper tests. The first broad-scale exploration program across Cosmo outlined gold anomalies extending for an aggregate 45km, with individual footprints up to 1.8km wide.

Ultrafine fraction soil sampling developed by CSIRO had helped previous owner Sarama Resources generate targets in covered terrain, but Sarama then vended the project to Riedel, taking an initial 32% equity stake to allow Sarama to focus on a substantial damages claim relating to the expropriation of the 2.9Moz Sanutara gold project in Burkina Faso.

CSIRO explains that tiny clay and iron oxide particles can bind gold and other mobile metals, helping preserve geochemical signals from mineralisation beneath soil or sand. Analysing that fine fraction can help explorers identify targets for drilling.

At Cosmo, airborne geophysical interpretation places some targets near regional and secondary structures, as well as contacts between different volcanic and intrusive rock units. Drilling will test the geological interpretation alongside the surface gold signals.

A first pass to guide the next campaign

The reconnaissance program comprises five east-west drill fences ranging from 200m to approximately 2km long. Around 110 holes are planned at roughly 40m spacing.

“This 7,000m-plus reconnaissance program will test targets near interpreted structures and lithological contacts,” said Riedel Resources CEO Paul Schmiede.

“As well as testing for in-situ gold mineralisation, it will provide valuable geological information to guide further exploration across more than 50km of largely unexplored greenstone belt in the prolific Laverton Gold District, much of which remains under cover.”

Cosmo has been the company’s principal exploration focus since it acquired the Cosmo and nearby Mt Venn interests in late July.

The project sits in a district hosting both Gold Fields’ Gruyere and Regis Resources’ Duketon operations. Riedel attributes Cosmo’s limited historical exploration partly to land-access constraints, with the current campaign now testing its own targets beneath cover.

Drilling is expected to take about three weeks. Samples will initially be analysed as four-metre composites, with above-threshold intervals submitted for further analysis at one-metre resolution.

Riedel anticipates further drilling after receiving and interpreting the results from this first round.

This article was developed in collaboration with Riedel Resources, a Stockhead advertiser at the time of publishing.

This article does not constitute financial product advice. You should consider obtaining independent advice before making any financial decisions.

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