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COVER

Regional exploration at Tomingley has tested the El Paso
hope to be on the ground drilling in late June/early July with South, Smiths and Jounama targets with 37 holes drilled
a comprehensive programme around the Boda prospect and for a total of 8,981m
some other things in that 5km corridor that we have identified,”
Earner said. “Certainly, with our programmes we think will be very interesting
The Boda discovery has lured other companies into the Lachlan to people in the coming 12 months. Even if other smaller players
Fold belt with “nearology” plays, however, replicating Alkane’s don’t get success, what we are intending to do should certainly
feat will be tough going. keep interest in the region alive,” he said.
Alkane’s NMPP comprises exploration licences totalling 110sq In a state where coal and coal seam gas attract lots of investment,
km of the northern Molong Volcanic Belt (MVB), within the Earner said NSW was “hotting” up in the metalliferous space in
eastern Lachlan Orogen, a way not seen since the early 2000s.
which is prospective for “It is always difficult for juniors because of that trade-off of some
large porphyry gold-copper great targets and cash burn, particularly taking into account
mineralisation in the ilk of the deeper drilling. Certainly, the interest from juniors in the Lachlan
Cadia Valley porphyry district Fold is greater than I have seen in a long time,” he said.
to the south.
“If people drill a lot of technical successes, I think no, sentiment
“I think our technical director will say this isn’t the world for juniors. But, in the Lachlan Fold,
Ian Chalmers who is one of drilling yields results, particularly persistent drilling. In that case,
the architects of the success I would expect to see sentiment maintained, particularly if the
of the company and has 50 gold price remains high in Australian dollar terms.”
years exploration success is
Ian Chalmers clearly integral, as are people
with experience and success
like Dave Meates on the
ground, which most people readily acknowledge,” Earner said.
“I think also it shows the degree of depth that is required in this
particular area of the Lachlan Fold and we have had some really
excellent sniffs and indications at surface without ever drilling
in these particular locations deeper. It was only when we got
the first results of KSD003, which reinforced the need for really
experienced people and the preparedness to back yourself
to drill deeper and underneath your surface RC drilling, which
gives you indications of more broader gold-rich halo.”
Alkane is preparing to launch into an extensive RC and diamond
programme at Boda in early Q3 and Earner is confident the
Nic Earner
company can deliver on the high expectations it has created.

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