Last checked at 
(Sharecast News) - International project developer Oracle Power updated the market on the ongoing development of the Northern Zone project by Riversgold on Monday.
The AIM-traded firm signed a binding heads of agreement with the ASX-listed Riversgold in May, over the farm-in to licence P25/2651, dubbed the Northern Zone Gold Project.
It said the project, 26 kilometres east of Kalgoorlie in Western Australia, had since seen significant advancements, as Riversgold successfully completed its maiden diamond drilling programme.
The company said the drilling took place over the central cross-section up to a vertical depth of 450 metres, and was primarily undertaken to validate the exploration model set out for the Northern Zone.
It said the exploration target, based on historical drilling data, was previously set between 200 million tonnes to 250 million tonnes, with an expected grade ranging from 0.4 grams to 0.6 grams of gold per tonne.
That translated to a potential of 2.5 million ounces to 4.8 million ounces of contained gold.
During the drilling process, visible alteration was observed on all holes, surpassing initial projections.
As a result, all four holes ended up being drilled deeper than initially planned.
Oracle said the primary objectives of the programme were to ascertain the style of mineralisation present, as well as to determine the mineralisation widths and the respective gold grades.
It was also designed to achieve an oriented core, which would aid in understanding the structural orientation of the mineralisation.
Following the accomplishments, the drill cores were currently en route to ALS in Perth, where they would undergo processes including cutting, photography, and assay.
"I am very pleased to see this promising update on our Northern Zone asset from Rivergold," said chief executive officer Naheed Memon.
"Prior to this, Oracle's work at the Northern Zone, had established that the gold system encountered at the project has potential scale, with a multi-million-ounce gold exploration target.
"This has been substantiated today with very wide zones of intense alteration in all four diamond drill holes demonstrating the high gold prospectivity."
Memon said the company was eagerly awaiting further updates on gold grades and widths in due course.
"Following Oracle's initial exploratory work leading to the diamond drilling programme, Riversgold took little time to get on the ground at Northern Zone.
"With a local, and ASX-listed partner who has exploration and development expertise in the region, we are well placed to deliver for the benefit of our shareholders, and we look forward to sharing further updates of the results of the drilling as we work towards firming the gold prospect at Northern Zone."
At 1011 BST, shares in Oracle Power were up 4.46% at 0.09p.
Reporting by Josh White for Sharecast.com.
