Galifrey Final Report Round 17 Geophysics and drilling collaborations 2024

Abstract

Northern Star was successfully awarded partial funding for the Galifrey Drilling program through the Northern Territory (NT) Government's Geophysics and Drilling Collaborations (GDC) program. The Galifrey deposit was discovered in 1997 using bedrock geochemical drilling. The maximum result from the program was 1,115 ppb Au, hypothesised to be associated with a NW-SE striking structure interpreted from regional magnetic imagery. Further drilling defined a highly anomalous gold zone, 2km in strike length, straddling the Galifrey structure. The Galifrey structure interpreted from airborne magnetic imagery extends 5km to the northwest and 7km to the southeast. Subsequent angled RAB, RC, and RCD programs were completed at Galifrey; highlights include 42m @ 2.56 g/t Au from 130m downhole. In 2015, Northern Star Resources Limited (Northern Star) and Tanami Gold NL (Tanami Gold) established a joint venture agreement for gold exploration of Central Tanami tenements, including EL 26926. The drill program was designed to test a conceptual model that suggests the downward extent of the Galifrey deposit may be mineralised. NW-SE striking shear zones inside a magnetic-high anomaly with felsic intrusive in sedimentary units closely associated with gold mineralisation dipping sub-vertically make up the Gallifrey deposit. The designed program will progress the current geologic understanding by providing detailed stratigraphic information, which can be used to validate or improve the current geological model and to test for mineralisation down dip, approximately 150m below known drilling and modelled mineralisation. Diamond drilling by TopDrill commenced on 11th April and was completed on 18th April 2025, after a prolonged wet season delayed drilling until the 2025 field season. Drilling successfully defined the felsic intrusions thought to host gold mineralisation. Further stratigraphic interpretation suggests mineralisation is not limited to just the felsic intrusions, but also to altered foliated zones within sediment that comprise quartz veining.