The Newcrest Mining Ltd (ASX: NCM) share price is lifting slightly today after the company announced an exploration update for its two potential growth projects.
The Newcrest share price is trading at $27.64 at the time of writing, up 0.51%.
What did Newcrest Mining announce?
The miner announced an exploration update for its Red Chris and Havieron projects. Both projects are currently undergoing drilling exercises with pre-feasibility studies on the horizon.
Newcrest is carrying out growth drilling at Red Chris to define additional inferred mineral resources. The key target and resource areas include the Main Zone, East Zone and East Ridge.
Today's announcement advised that drilling activities have continued to expand the higher grade mineralisation intersected at East Ridge and the Main Zone.
Newcrest CEO Sandeep Biswas commented:
We are also excited by our continued exploration success at Red Chris, with drill results from East Ridge and Main Zone expanding the footprint of the higher grade mineralisation.
East Ridge is our new discovery that is located outside of our initial Red Chris Mineral Resource estimate with drill results to date supporting the potential for resource growth at Red Chris over time.
Drill results in the Main Zone have confirmed the potential for higher grade mineralisation which could support additional mining fronts beneath and to the south west of the open pit.
Havieron is another growth prospect within Newcrest's gold mining portfolio. The company previously completed infill drilling activities, increasing its confidence in the continuity of high grade gold mineralisation. A growth drilling program is currently underway, focused on expand existing resource estimates.
Newcrest highlighted that "growth drilling continues to return significant high grade extensions to the South East Crescent zone". With management saying that:
Our extensive growth drilling program has delivered several new exciting high grade intercepts at Havieron, including 85m @ 11g/t Au and 0.29% Cu.
These results highlight the potential for significant high grade depth extension of the South East Crescent zone.
Newcrest Mining share price snapshot
The Newcrest Mining share price is up 2.15% year-to-date, broadly coinciding with the flat year-to-date performance of gold prices.
Newcrest Mining shares have struggled to find headway ever since gold prices topped out at US$2,075 in August last year. During this time, Newcrest shares soared to near record highs of $38.15.
