Shree Minerals plans surveying, sampling programs at Rockford Gold Project for the remainder of 2021

Shree Minerals Ltd (ASX:SHH) has planned a series of surveys and sampling programs at the Rockford Gold Project in the Lachlan Fold Belt of New South Wales, designed to identify and prioritise targets for further drilling. The company was granted an exploration licence in the East Lachlan Fold Belt on May 14, which has a long history of mineral production including gold (80 ounces), copper (13 million tonnes), lead, zinc, silver, and tin. Covering 163 square kilometres, the tenement comprises the Rock Lodge gold and base metal workings south of the town of Cooma, with previous drill results including 5.36 g/t gold, 55.6 g/t silver, 0.12% bismuth, 0.8% copper and 1.46% zinc. A desktop study completed by the ASK-lister revealed two ‘very strong’ IP anomalies (more than 350 metres long) undrilled at the Rock Lodge prospect (known as the Northern IP Anomaly and Southern IP anomaly), with the presence of abundant sulphide from past drilling suggesting the untested IP anomalies may also be due to sulphides. Upcoming work programs at Rockford  Shree Minerals plans to complete the following activities: Geophysical Surveys: Consideration will be given to conducting detailed aerial magnetic surveys because IRGS deposits are commonly associated with aeromagnetic anomalies. Induced polarisation (IP) surveys will also be considered to assist with the generation of drill targets following the success of surveys conducted by previous exploration companies; Soil and Rock Sampling: Soil sampling is planned in areas with outcrop. Closer spaced grid sampling (200m x 50m) will be conducted on priority targets with a hand-held auger. Rock chip samples will be taken of gossans, ironstones and quartz veins; Regional Stream Sediment Sampling: Stream sediment sampling is planned over areas with prospective Ordovician age rocks. The sample density will be increased in proximity to the mineralised areas at Mount Pleasant Creek, Bobundara Gold Mine, Rock Lodge and the Monaro prospects;   Drilling: Targets generated by the geophysical and geochemical sampling will drill tested; and Land Access: Discussions with landholders regarding land access agreements for planned drilling are well advanced. Turondale Project As well as the Rockford project, Shree also owns the Turondale Project, around 15 kilometres north of the town of Bathurst also in the East Lachlan Fold Belt. Shree completed a review of previous exploration 2020 and conducted an interpretation and target generation study, which returned 74 stream sediment samples. Due to delays in gaining access to the private land, a further sixty-three samples remain to be collected. The company intends to continue the stream sediment sampling program over the northern portion of EL9017 to locate possible extensions of the Quartz Ridge and Box Ridge gold mineralised trends. Some upstream sampling of anomalous drainages may also be required to accurately locate the source of the anomalous gold geochemistry. Quartz veins encountered during the stream sediment sampling program will be sampled. Shree’s exploration program will also consist of stream-sediment sampling of the creeks between Oakey Creek and Cheshire Creek. Once sampling has been completed, a grid-based soil sampling program, as well as geological mapping, is required to identify the source of the mineralisation and generate targets for follow up drilling. Edward Creek Copper Project In late May 2021, a reconnaissance trip was made to the Edwards Creek Project in the Northern Territory to evaluate access and check the location of copper and base metal occurrences recorded by previous exploration companies and the Northern Territory Geological Survey. Sixteen rock chip samples were taken at Edwards Creek and have been submitted to the laboratory for analysis of gold, copper and multielement. Results will be announced when they become available. The site visit has confirmed the presence of copper and base metal occurrences at the Edwards Creek gossan and the extensions to the north and south within the folded sequence of felsic and mafic granulite, marble, calcsilicate and amphibolite. Shree will engage a geophysical consultant to remodel the electromagnetic data at Edwards Creek in a move to help target future drilling. Depending on the remodelling results, the old drill holes could be re-entered and cleaned out to allow a downhole electromagnetic survey. Background  The company’s portfolio includes: The Rock Lodge (gold-silver-copper-zinc) and Turondale (gold-copper-silver-lead) projects in New South Wales; The Edwards Creek (copper - pictured above), Bruce Gold and Box Hole (lead-zinc) projects in the Northern Territory; The Nelson Bay River Iron Ore Project (NBR) in Tasmania; and The Fraser Dundas, Golden Chimney and Ulysses South gold projects in Western Australia. Speaking to Proactive back in June, company secretary Sanjay Loyalka said: “What sets us apart from our peers is that we have both a development project, which has near-term production and cash flow opportunity in a commodity which is doing very well, and we’ve got a suite of exploration projects which we believe that, while at the early stage, have got a lot of potential. “We’ve got a diversified basket of development and exploration projects and we have the technical skills within the company to progress them.” Loyalka said although exploration licences were granted earlier for the Northern Territory projects, the company’s Rock Lodge Project in NSW is the priority. He said: “Our main focus this year will be our New South Wales projects as well as our Northern Territory projects."