Oracle set to restart drilling at Northern Zone gold project

(Sharecast News) - Oracle Power said on Thursday that it is set to restart drilling at its Northern Zone gold project in Western Australia, with a new campaign scheduled to begin in March.

The AIM-traded company said the programme would target extensions of previously-identified high-grade gold intercepts, using a series of southwest-northeast oriented extensional lines with 20-metre spacing.

A drilling contractor had been secured, and would mobilise to the site next month.

The firm said the Northern Zone hosted a 600-metre-wide porphyry system, with past drilling returning significant gold intercepts, including five metres at 12.27 grams of gold per tonne from 32 metres, and 16 metres at 4.69 grams per tonne from 30 metres.

Deeper drill results also indicated broad mineralised zones, with 330 metres at 0.49 grams of gold per tonne, including 54.79 metres at 1.15 grams per tonne.

The board said the upcoming drill programme would focus on extending the mineralised zones, and further defining the deposit's potential.

"The Northern Zone continues to deliver significant gold intercepts, and I am very pleased that we will be launching our 2025 drilling campaign in the coming weeks," said chief executive officer Naheed Memon.

"The mining lease submission to convert the project to a mining licence signifies our commitment and belief in this project."

Memon said the "significant" high-grade gold assays at Northern Zone from 2024 drilling continued to expand the gold mineralised footprint of the porphyry over a larger area, and confirmed the presence of a "significant" gold system.

"The Australian dollar gold price has passed AUD 4,500 per ounce, which bodes well for this exciting project."

At 1348 GMT, shares in Oracle Power were up 8.57% at 0.02p.

Reporting by Josh White for Sharecast.com.