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(Sharecast News) - Forgent said on Tuesday that it had submitted a drilling approval application for its maiden drilling programme at the Peak Hills gold-copper project in Western Australia, with work targeted to begin this summer.
The AIM-traded energy transition company said it had lodged a programme of work with the Department of Mines, Petroleum and Exploration, covering three priority gold targets identified after a review and reinterpretation of historic exploration data.
Forgent said Peak Hills offered potential for near-term drilling and a low-capex development pathway, supported by nearby processing infrastructure that could provide accelerated development and monetisation opportunities.
The planned campaign will initially focus on gold, while copper mineralisation targets continue to be interpreted.
A drilling contractor had already been selected for the aircore programme, which would drill to a maximum depth of 100 metres, and the rig has been provisionally booked.
The three priority targets are Karalundi, Junction and Curley's.
Historic drilling at Karalundi returned intercepts including 2 metres at 5.09 grams of gold per tonne and 8 metres at 0.85 grams per tonne, while rock chip results reached up to 24.5 grams per tonne.
At Junction, historical drilling on a 400 metre by 100 metre grid returned multiple gold assays, including 25 metres at 0.53 grams per tonne, 15 metres at 0.42 grams per tonne and 10 metres at 0.49 grams per tonne.
At Curley's, previous drilling intersected grades of up to 1 metre at 47 grams per tonne from 70 metres, with 350 metres of open strike to the west that has not been drilled.
Forgent said the objectives of the drilling campaign were to validate historical results, test extensions to known mineralised zones, define additional mineralised volumes and assess potential near-term development opportunities using existing regional processing plants and infrastructure.
Chief executive James Parsons said the company was moving to active drilling at Peak Hills, with operational and financial resources increasingly focused on unlocking value from drilling this summer.
"We believe the combination of shallow mineralisation targets, strong historic results and nearby processing infrastructure creates a compelling platform for focused modern exploration and potential accelerated commercialisation," he said.
Forgent said it expected approval of the programme of work within a number of weeks, after which it will confirm the timing of drilling.
A company geologist was expected to visit the site within the next two weeks.
Peak Hills covers about 163 square kilometres across five granted tenements, around 80 kilometres north of Meekatharra.
Forgent owns a 51% interest in the project, with an option to acquire a further 48%.
At 1320 BST, shares in Forgent were down 1.93% at 0.01p.
Reporting by Josh White for Sharecast.com.
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