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(Sharecast News) - Oracle Power announced on Friday that drilling is set to start next week at the Northern Zone Gold Project, 25 kilometres east of Kalgoorlie in Western Australia.
The AIM-traded firm is advancing the project in partnership with the ASX-listed Riversgold.
It said two drill rigs had been contracted to start drilling operations, which was designed to provide the necessary data to formally estimate the project's gold resources.
The board said the Northern Zone project hosts gold within a porphyry intrusion, with drilled widths exceeding 100 metres in true width.
It said that geological feature highlighted the potential scale of the deposit.
The previously-announced exploration target for the project ranged from 200 million tonnes to 250 million tonnes at a grade of 0.4 grams to 0.6 grams of gold per tonne.
That, the company said, translated to an exploration target of 2.5 million to 4.8 million ounces of gold.
"It is great that this step-out drilling programme at the Northern Zone Gold Project is drill-ready and two drill rigs have been contracted to commence drilling from mid-next week," said chief executive officer Naheed Memon.
"We have a very large gold exploration target here, which is centred around a large porphyry gold system that has been proven to be at least 100 metres in true width."
At 1339 BST, shares in Oracle Power were up 2.56% at 0.02p.
Reporting by Josh White for Sharecast.com.
