Alice Queen Limited has mobilised a drill rig to site at its flagship Horn Island Gold Project in the Torres Strait region of Far North Queensland, marking the return of on-ground drilling after a gap of several years.

Drill pads have been prepared for the imminent start of a multi-phase program using a dual-purpose, track-mounted rig capable of reverse circulation and diamond core drilling. The campaign is designed to test conceptual Exploration Target areas that outline the potential for a large-scale gold mineralised system. The project currently holds a JORC 2012 Mineral Resource Estimate of 21.1 million tonnes at 0.84 grams per tonne gold for 569,000 ounces.

The hard-rock areas carry a conceptual Exploration Target of 34.6 to 52.0 million tonnes at 0.88 to 1.32 grams per tonne gold for 1.22 to 1.83 million ounces. Stockpiles, tailings and alluvial domains carry a conceptual target of 25.1 to 37.6 million tonnes at 0.31 to 0.46 grams per tonne gold for 310,000 to 460,000 ounces. Alice Queen notes that these exploration targets are conceptual in nature, with insufficient exploration to estimate a Mineral Resource for those areas.

“It is a significant moment for Alice Queen to have a rig back on the ground at Horn Island for the first time in several years. With the rig now mobilised, we are ready to begin a program aimed at growing the Horn Island resource and investigating new areas of our project tenure. This drilling runs in parallel with our development work, coming soon after releasing the Project Definition Study and as we progress towards delivering the Pre-Feasibility Study. Horn Island holds considerable potential and, in the current strong gold price environment, there's no better time to be drilling to realise it.”

— Andrew Buxton, Managing Director

The drilling will target continuity along the interpreted northwest structural trend extending from the current resource, down-dip extensions to the south, shallow zones across the northeast, and high-grade continuity within the current resource and extension zones.

The campaign is led by technical team member Adrian Hell and is supported by funds raised through a $3.5 million rights issue completed in June, which included a $2.5 million full entitlement uptake by major shareholder Gage Resource Development.

Read the full announcement: Drill Rig Mobilised to Horn Island Gold Project