The discovery of “gold-only” mineralisation within 150m of the surface in the southern part of the prospect and up-dip of previous drill hits has the potential to redefine the company’s development priorities.

Significantly, the angle of the high-grade mineralisation in the latest hole halves to 40 degrees from earlier, deeper holes, suggesting the mineralisation could reach the surface following a ridge where earlier soil tests found very high levels of anomalous gold.

Strickland says if more mineralisation is discovered and chased to the surface with follow-up drilling, Gradina could potentially overtake its Shanac project as the likely first cab off the rank for development.

Shanac is another promising prospect with a gold equivalent inventory of 4.6 million ounces.

Strickland drilled a second hole at the northern end of Gradina’s current strike to test a 200m up-dip extension of an earlier discovered 227m thick zone of mineralisation.

The second hole successfully struck a 177.6m semi-continuous zone from 323m depth.

Notable intersections included 6.4m grading 2.6g/t gold from 331.1m, 12.0m running at 2.8g/t gold from 428.1m - including a 6m slice grading 4.4g/t gold from 428.1m - and 10.6m grading 2.6g/t gold from 490.7m, including a 6.6m section with grades of 3.4g/t gold from 494.7m.

Strickland Metals managing director Paul L’Herpiniere said: “We always knew there was strong potential for shallow mineralisation at Gradina and, in light of these latest results, we have planned further follow-up holes to chase the mineralisation to surface. These latest assays continue to highlight the outstanding potential to grow the resource base at Rogozna, with a maiden mineral resource for Gradina planned for the second half of 2025.”

Similar to other deposits in the area, dykes have cut through areas in the Gradina deposit with the richest gold zones typically found in skarn material close to the dykes’ fringes.

Drilling at Gradina has now stretched the extent of known mineralisation to 1km along strike and vertically by 800m, while remaining open in all directions.

Strickland says the prospect’s growing size - especially towards surface - has highlighted how important it has become as a major contributor to the Rogozna project’s overall resource base.

As winter sets in, the company is winding down its current drilling campaign at Rogozna.

Three drilling rigs have completed their work at the Jezerska, Reka and Gradina prospects and are shut down for the season.

One final rig is active to finish up a last hole at the Obradov Potok prospect, before it also ceases operations.

Drilling is set to resume in March next year as the company targets a maiden resource for Gradina by late-2025.

Assays for multiple holes - including five more from Gradina – are still pending.

With $41.1 million in cash and Northern Star shares as of September, Strickland is well-funded to continue its exploration efforts and the latest results appear to be highly significant for the company’s future mining plans.

Mineralisation at Rogozna has typically started at depths below 150m making development more expensive with a longer payback period.

If Strickland hits the jackpot at Gradina, with mineralisation running to surface or at least close to it, it has the potential to turn the project on its head as a low-cost, start up, open-pittable gold mine with early cashflows funding deeper developments.

The cross-section at Gradina tells a sublime story.

A previous single drill hole hit mineralisation on three different occasions – once with 44.5m at 1.5 g/t gold from 331m before hitting mineralisation again at 715m with a 23m hit going 2.8 g/t gold.

And as a final curtsy to the crowd, Strickland hit it again at 923m with a massive 82.6m intersection grading 1.9 g/t gold.

It is clear the mineralisation goes deep at Gradina, just how deep is anyone’s guess – but for now, it is all about chasing it to surface and Strickland’s latest set of numbers give some weight to the view that this thing could be mineralised well into open pit territory.

Punters and industry stakeholders alike are likely to watch the next set of drill results with interest as Strickland looks to see just how big the tiger it has by the tail at Gradina might be.

Is your ASX-listed company doing something interesting? Contact: mattbirney@bullsnbears.com.au