Argent to take one giant leap with expanded Trunkey program

• Argent secures approvals for 8687m of expanded drilling at Trunkey Creek
• New holes will test the full 500m known strike of Wilson’s Reef
• Deeper drilling targets gold beneath historical groundwater-constrained workings

Special Report: Argent Minerals has rocketed its gold exploration ambitions at Trunkey Creek in NSW by increasing approved drilling to more than eight times the size of the original program.

Ten additional diamond holes will double Phase 1 to 20 holes for about 4487m, while 28 RC holes have been approved for Phase 2 in the southern section of the goldfield.

Argent Minerals (ASX:ARD) says the 8687m approved program will allow drilling to continue until at least February 2027 at current rates.

The approvals follow early encouragement at Wilson’s Reef, where the second hole intersected visible gold and returned up to 0.4m at 15.84g/t gold from 97.9m downhole.

Expanded drilling will test more of Wilson’s Reef’s known 500m strike, at the northern end of a 4.7km mineralised corridor.

“Securing approvals for further 38 holes is a significant step for Trunkey,” chief executive officer Mike McKevitt said.

“It allows us to keep drilling continuously into 2027 and to systematically test Wilson’s Reef along its full known strike.”

Expanding the golden search

The new approvals extend planned drilling coverage at Wilson’s Reef from about 150m to the full 500m strike of historical workings.

Wilson’s Reef sits at the northern end of a broader corridor that was mined from 1851 to 1908.

ARD prioritised Wilson’s Reef after field exploration, mapping and surface rock-chip sampling.

The company has also defined six high-priority induced polarisation targets along the wider corridor.

Four diamond holes have been completed for 886.8m, including ATDD003 and ATDD004, which reached about 300m downhole to test beneath the interpreted limit of historic mining.

Newly approved diamond holes will follow the first ten Phase 1 holes and extend drilling along the known strike.

Chasing gold where the old miners stopped

Historical records cited by ARD indicate the main shaft at Wilson’s Reef reached about 187m, with mining ceasing after groundwater inflows became difficult to manage.

The records don’t document that the reefs had been exhausted, which is why the company is testing for mineralisation below about 180m from surface.

“Our drilling is focused on testing for mineralisation below approximately 180m from surface, the interpreted limit of historic mining,” McKevitt said.

“That depth matters because the historic records indicate mining at Trunkey ceased due to the difficulty of managing groundwater, not because the reefs were documented to have been exhausted.”

The second hole in the maiden program intersected gold-bearing quartz veins beyond the interpreted historical workings.

A growing NSW precious metals opportunity

Trunkey Creek is about 9km by road from Argent’s Kempfield project, which has a resource of 63.7Mt at 69.75g/t silver equivalent for 142.8Moz silver equivalent (65.8Moz silver and 125,192oz gold as well as lead and zinc).

ARD is evaluating potential development pathways at Kempfield, while exploration continues at nearby gold projects including Trunkey Creek.

Potential contributions from Trunkey Creek to a future mining operation would depend on further exploration and technical studies.

The company plans to keep the drillbit spinning, with Phase 2 to follow Phase 1, subject to results and drill pad availability.

This article was developed in collaboration with Argent Minerals, 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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