The EIS funding will support drill testing of extensional targets at the historical high-grade Cosmopolitan gold mine.
These targets were recently defined through an independent technical review by consulting firm ERM, which included a detailed 3D reconstruction of the deposit and associated underground and open pit workings.
Nearby, Kookynie also hosts the historical Altona gold mine.
According to Arika Resources (ASX:ARI), Cosmopolitan and Altona were one of the largest and highest-grade gold producers in the Kookynie region during the late 19th and early 20th centuries.
Cosmopolitan reportedly churned out 331,000oz at an average grade of 15g/t Au, while Altona chipped in with another 88,700oz at 30g/t.
Production at both mines ceased at the onset of WWI and was compounded by an inability to control high volumes of groundwater.
Neither deposit has been subjected to systematic modern exploration.
“We are delighted to have secured EIS co-funding support from the Western Australian government for a part of our upcoming drilling campaign at the Kookynie gold project,” noted Arika Resources managing director Justin Barton.
“The award of this grant represents a strong endorsement – both of the significant potential of the project and of the quality of the work being undertaken by our technical team and consultants.”
As part of the grant, Arika can receive up to 50% of direct drilling costs capped at $206,213, as well 50% of mobilisation costs capped at $5,000.
The scheme will fund two 600m deep diamond drill holes designed to test the Cosmopolitan-Diamantina granite-hosted quartz-bearing lode, 200m below the deepest level historical underground workings.
The targets are interpreted to represent potential depth extensions of modelled high-grade shoots.
“The assessment completed by ERM, in collaboration with our technical team, has been outstanding,” Barton said.
“It’s been a huge effort compiling and validating all the historical data and reconstructing the Cosmopolitan ore bodies and underground mine workings.”
“The 3D modelling now gives us the ability to look at these deposits in much greater detail than ever before, enabling us to unlock the controls on deposit geometries and determine the orientation of the high-grade shoots within each of the lodes.”
Regionally, Kookynie sits towards the westernmost margin of the Laverton Greenstone Belt which has produced more than 28Moz of gold.
Renowned nearby projects and mines include Sons of Gwalia with more than 10Moz of contained gold and Sunrise Dam at about 8Moz gold endowment.
Management believes Cosmopolitan and Altona – along with the nearby Puzzle deposit owned by Genesis Minerals (ASX:GMD) – could be part of a single, large mineralised system.
“In terms of deposit models and the scale of the opportunity, we are now seeing similarities with the Sons of Gwalia and Tarmoola deposits at Leonora,” explained Barton.
“Like those, the Cosmopolitan-Altona-Puzzle deposits sit within major shear zones at or close to the contact between a regionally recognisable granite, and a broad sequence of intermediate-mafic volcanics and volcanosediments.”
Barton noted that Sons of Gwalia was discovered around the same time as Cosmopolitan and remains in production as Australia’s deepest gold mine. Today, it still holds a 4.5Moz gold resource that stretches to 2600m below surface.
In comparison, Cosmopolitan was only mined to 300m and remains open at depth and along strike.
Drilling at the project is expected to commence in upcoming months, subject to regulatory approval.
