Shares in mining exploration company Antipa Minerals Ltd (ASX: AZY) are struggling to find range today and are now 4% in the red at 4.8 cents. That's after reaching as low as 4.2 cents soon after open.
Antipa's share price has been on the move as investors respond to a company announcement on its Wilki Farm‐in Project and Paterson Farm‐in Project exploration programmes. For reference, Newcrest Operations Limited and IGO Limited (ASX: IGO) respectively are fully-funding ongoing exploration activities at these sites.
With that in mind, let's what Antipa advised on its exploration activities today.
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What did Antipa Minerals announce?
The company gave an overview of its Wilki Newcrest Farm-in Project 2021 Exploration Programme Results Summary.
A total of 43 drill holes (7,422m awaiting assay results for 610m) testing 12 greenfield and 2 brownfield targets and fixed‐loop ground electromagnetic (FLEM) surveys were completed at 6 targets.
Reverse circulation (RC) drilling intersected narrow zones of gold/copper mineralisation. Several holes failed to achieve target depth due to abnormally high volumes of groundwater in conjunction with very deep oxidation profiles extending down up to 200m below the surface.
36 RC holes and diamond core — one diamond tail for 283m — (DD) drill testing of 12 greenfields SkyTEM aerial electromagnetic (AEM), magnetic and geochemical targets intersected minor zones of anomalous copper/zinc/lead and other pathfinder elements. However, no ore grade mineralisation was identified.
The company completed a programme of FLEM surveys (a total of 15 FLEM loops each generally between 200 to 300m in size) over 6 greenfield targets. It aimed to identify bedrock massive sulphide-related electromagnetic conductivity anomalies. The company identified Bedrock conductors at 3 sites with modelling ongoing.
The review and interpretation of the 2021 drill hole and geophysical exploration data will be considered in conjunction with historic data to enhance geological modelling. It's hoped it will potentially identify further target areas for gold‐copper mineralisation. The review is ongoing.
Furthermore, the release notes the success of Antipa's Exploration Incentive Scheme (EIS) application for diamond core testing of a "Havieron look‐alike partially co‐incident magnetic and gravity target".
The Western Australian government subsequently awarded the company an EIS funding grant of $190,000.
With respect to the Paterson IGO Farm-in Project 2021 Exploration Programme, results are pending for the two major components of this year's programme. These included a regional /project scale stratigraphic and geochemical air core drill programme, covering an area of approximately 350km2 – 168 holes for 11,346m. It's also undertaking a soil geochemical sampling programme covering an area of approximately 650km2 from 2,589 samples.
Antipa says during the first quarter of next year, it will analyse the 2021 results in conjunction with other data sets to "define a tectono‐stratigraphic framework and identify and rank new greenfield exploration targets for direct drill testing in the CY 2022".
Antipa Minerals share price summary
In the past 12 months, the Antipa Minerals share price has gained almost 14% after rallying more than 8% this year to date.
Over the last month, however, it has reversed course and is down almost 27% in that time.
