Australia’s Strickland Metals has initiated its largest-ever diamond drilling program at the Rogozna gold and copper project in southern Serbia, with a target of 50,000 meters of drilling. This ambitious campaign aims to expand the project’s existing gold-equivalent resources, which currently stand at 6.69 million ounces (approximately 189 tons), as reported by the Sydney Morning Herald.
The success of Strickland Metals’ ongoing drilling at Rogozna has drawn considerable attention to its core samples, which are stored at the company’s operations center in Raška. The Rogozna area includes several key deposits, including Šanac, Medenovac, Bakar Canyon and Gradina, along with nine other promising exploration sites.
Currently, two rigs are drilling at the Šanac deposit, a high-grade gold area identified last year. Last year’s drilling at Šanac yielded impressive results, including 89.7 meters of mineralization at 4 grams per tonne (g/t) gold over 244.5 meters. Notably, 24.1 meters of this interval returned 10.5 g/t gold from a depth of 296.2 meters. Another hole intercepted 40.9 meters of gold at 4.0 g/t over 241.6 meters, including a section with 12 meters at 6.2 g/t gold.
The 2025 exploration program is set to be the most extensive undertaken at the Rogozna project, with plans for at least 50,000 meters of drilling. Strickland Metals’ Managing Director, Paul L’Erpinier, confirmed that this year’s drilling at Šanac will focus on expanding the high-quality gold deposits, particularly on the western side of the central domain of the deposit, following last year’s focus on the eastern side.
As drilling progresses, the company expects to update its current resource estimate, which currently stands at 131 tonnes of gold equivalent, by the end of the month.
Strickland Metals is also preparing to expand its drilling operations at the nearby Gradina field, located 1.9 kilometers south-southwest of Šanac, with plans to deploy four additional rigs in the near future.
This new drilling program is the largest ever undertaken by Strickland Metals at the Rogozna project, and it is expected to provide a significant boost to the project’s development since the company acquired it roughly eight months ago.
The company views 2025 as a pivotal year for the Rogozna project. Strickland Metals is well-positioned to fund this extensive exploration program, with $33.8 million in cash and Northern Star shares as of the December quarter, ensuring they can continue their ambitious expansion efforts at Rogozna.
