Nova Minerals Ltd. Aug. 12 reported that the preliminary resource drill program at its Estelle gold project in Alaska has been completed on time and under budget.

As a result of the acceleration of its induced polarization (IP) geophysical survey and drill campaign this year, Nova said it has made significant headway toward reporting an initial Australian Joint Ore Reserves Committee- (JORC) compliant for Oxide Korbel, a new occurrence in the Oxide area at the north end of the roughly 18-mile-long Estelle property.

"We are pleased – and credit to our team on the ground – that drilling has now been completed on time and under budget," said Nova Minerals Managing Director Avi Kimelman. "The speed of IP completion, drilling and our commencement of the resource estimation report shows the commitment by all involved to unlock the potential at the under-explored highly prospective Estelle gold project which we believe to be the next globally significant gold camp."

Since discovering the Estelle Korbel gold system, the Australia-based exploration company has moved rapidly to better define the dimensions and controls, which were stepped up significantly in July this year.

Oxide Korbel is a prospect area that roughly covers the area previously referred to as Oxide Ridge.

SE11-01, the Oxide Ridge discovery hole drilled by Millrock Resources Inc. in 2011, cut 450.7 meters averaging 0.38 grams per metric ton gold.

This hole lies in the southeast corner of what Nova now refers to as Oxide Korbel Resource Block A.

SE12-04, drilled about 450 meters southeast of the discovery hole in 2012, cut 41.5 meters averaging 1.1 g/t gold, indicating the drilling was vectoring toward higher gold grades as it approached a strong geophysical anomaly further southeast.

This hole is within Oxide Korbel Resource Block B.

Nova said it has confirmed the Oxide Korbel resource blocks A and B span over 1,000 meters of strike and average up to 500 meters wide, respectively. The mineralization there generally starts at surface and drills have consistently traced mineralization to a depth of 150 and up to 450 meters, the company added.

Assays are pending from these holes completed during the initial phase of 2019 drilling.

Nova said the Oxide Korbel mineralization remains open and a major drill program is being planned to target potential extensions, both along strike and to depth.

Moreover, Nova is planning for additional exploration work across the larger Estelle property.

The company has identified three priority areas for further exploration – Oxide, which encompasses Oxide Korbel, Oxide North and Oxide South; Shoeshine, an area about 10 miles to the south that covers the Mount Estelle, Train and Shoeshine prospects; and RPM, which covers Revelation and RPM at the south end of the property.

Nova has begun permitting and extending areas of focus in line with its prioritized systematic exploration strategy across these prospect areas. Exploration across the wider property is expected to include further drilling, mapping, geochemistry and geophysics.

The company is also aiming to establish a fixed camp, which will lower exploration costs.

Christopher Gerteisen, a geologist with more than 20 years of experience, is leading Nova Minerals exploration at Estelle.

A Untied States-Australia dual citizen, Gerteisen lives in Alaska and has geology experience there from his time with Newmont Mining. He has been named as Nova's general manager of North America, with a primary focus on managing the Estelle gold project while implementing efficiencies to keep exploration costs down.

"We are now in an enviable position at the district-scale Estelle gold project with our Oxide Korbel deposit (one of fifteen known occurrences) sharing geological similarities to that of Kinross' Fort Knox Gold and Victoria Gold's Dublin Gulch Eagle Gold Mine systems," said Kimelman. "We look forward to advancing this deposit to a major maiden inferred JORC resource in the near term and believe we have the right team in place all dedicated to executing our vision."

–SHANE LASLEY