Artemis and Novo Commit AU$5.4 Million to JV Exploration

Novo Resources (TSXV:NVO) and Artemis Resources (ASX:ARV) have agreed to a AU$5.4 million exploration and work program budget for the joint-venture tenements the two companies share in the Karratha region of Western Australia.

Set to commence July 1, the first four months of work will be focused on bulk sampling, diamond drilling and costeaning activities, mostly at Purdy’s Reward. Gold grade data will be extracted from large bulk samples for a mineralization report, which the companies refer to as an “important step” in turning the current JV exploration license into a mining lease.

“Novo is pleased to work with Artemis as we commence the new field season at Purdy’s Reward,” Novo chairman and president Quinton Hennigh said in a statement. “Our joint venture program is designed to quickly accelerate the project toward trial mining.”

Environmental and heritage studies are also set to take place at Purdy’s Reward and Comet Well to move the areas closer to trial mining.

The AU$5.4 million budget, which is set to fund a year’s worth of exploration, is approximately one third of Novo’s planned AU$15.4 million Pilbara conglomerate exploration budget.

Novo and Artemis officially completed their 50:50 joint-venture agreement in December 2017. The agreement encapsulated Artemis’ 1,536 square km exploration package in the Pilbara region, Western Australia, and Novo’s ~12,000 square km package, also in the Pilbara. This also included the gold-bearing conglomerates of Comet Well and Artemis’ Purdy’s Reward.

Gold nuggets found at both sites were likened to that of watermelon seeds for their flattened appearance with rounded edges, with a high purity rate of 96 percent. At Comet Well, prospectors first found gold nuggets in mid-2016 which, according to Novo, came from a package of “previously unmapped conglomerates” at the base of the Archean Fortescue Group.

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Securities Disclosure: I, Olivia Da Silva, hold no direct investment interest in any company mentioned in this article.