Recently-listed Ordell Minerals (ASX: ORD) has obtained significant results from reverse circulation (RC) drilling at its Barimaia gold project in the Murchison region of Western Australia.

Completed in September and October 2024, the follow-up drilling program is the second phase of a larger ongoing campaign to systematically test Barimaia’s currently defined 2.5-kilometre strike extent of gold mineralisation at shallow depths.

A total of 57 holes for 5,238m of drilling have been completed since exploration by Ordell began in late July 2024.

Eridanus similarities

Managing director Michael Fowler said Ordell’s exploration at Barimaia is targeting similar style discoveries to the Eridanus deposit that forms part of Ramelius Resources’ (ASX: RMS) nearby Mount Magnet gold mining operations.

Eridanus sits just 6km north-west of Barimaia and hosts a current mineral resource estimate of 21 million tonnes at 1.7 grams per tonne gold for 1,200,000 ounces of contained gold, with more than 300,000oz already mined from the open pit.

“Our second drill program at Barimaia has delivered some great results, with wide zones of shallow gold mineralisation intersected within the targeted felsic intrusion host rock,” Mr Fowler said.

“Importantly, a number of high-grade gold results were returned from the program, which are open at depth and along strike.”

“This shows the potential of the mineralised system, which is beginning to take shape, pointing to significant future growth opportunities as our drilling programs advance.”

Shallow open pit

Results from the latest program have further confirmed shallow open pit potential, with coherent zones of gold mineralisation starting to be defined within an extensive gold system that remains untested at depth and open along strike.

Mr Fowler said the next step is to complete a diamond drilling (DD) program in November to help confirm the orientation, lithology, and geometry of the significant mineralisation.

This drilling will be followed by further extensional and in-fill drilling in the coming months.

Exploration plans

Ordell’s exploration at Barimaia over the next six months will include a smaller DD program in November to confirm the orientation and geometry of the mineralisation and controlling structures at McNabs East.

This will be followed by infill and extensional RC drilling after interpreting the results from the DD program.

The company is also considering further first-pass RC drilling in an area where very shallow air-core drilling was completed in 2019 and 2021.

Air-core drilling further to the east and north of the currently defined mineralisation at the McNabs Prospect is also being planned.

July ASX listing

Ordell completed an initial public offering to raise $6 million and list on the Australian Securities Exchange (ASX) in July this year.

As part of this process, Ordell finalised the acquisition of three projects including Barimaia.

The other assets were the Goodia project near Norseman and the Fisher South project situated within the North Eastern Goldfields region of WA.