The company's first real drilling push into Serbia's Raska district, focused around the former Kizevak and Sastavci mines, has delivered promising results, with the first successful hole at Sastavci defining a new gold zone, while drilling at Kizevak continues to confirm good widths of mineralisation.

 

A large gold bearing structure has been defined at Sastavci with an intercept of 31m at 1.3 grams per tonne gold from 279m, including 1m at 13.6gpt gold, beneath previously reported polymetallic mineralisation.

 

The gold hit is just 500m south of a gold-soil anomaly, which could represent a possible high-sulphidation-style gold target that has never been tested in the area.

 

A review of past data shows a 1500m by 800m, northwest-striking IP chargeability anomaly. 

 

The Sastavci open pit sits on the southern flank of the chargeability and gold soil anomaly.

 

The gold is beneath two polymetallic zones that returned 9m at 4.4% zinc, 1.2% lead, 18gpt silver and 0.4gpt gold from 6m, including 1.9m at 12.5% zinc, 4.8% lead, 72gpt silver and 1.7gpt gold; over 10m at 3% zinc, 1% lead, 17gpt silver and 0.5gpt gold from 28m, including 1.8m at 10.7% zinc, 3.8% lead, 64gpt silver and 0.4gpt gold.

 

Sastavci is 3.5km north of Kizevak, where the latest assays from diamond core holes included 53m at 4.2% zinc, 2% lead, 21gpt silver and 0.4gpt gold from 100m, including 18m at 9% zinc, 4.1% lead, 43gpt silver and 0.6gpt gold down-dip of previous drilling.

 

Another hole, targeting an area with no historical drilling, returned 18.5m at 2.4% zinc and 0.2% lead from 2m, over 34.5m at 2.2% zinc, 1.1% lead, 13gpt silver and 0.1gpt gold from 30.5m, including 7m at 4.9% zinc, 2.7% lead, 31gpt silver and 0.2gpt gold.

 

A further hole intercepted two high-grade zones, over 22m and 33.5, respectively, demonstrating excellent grade continuity between previously reported, widely spaced holes with peak grades up 8.4% zinc and 3.6% lead. 

 

Adriatic says it is clear that significant mineralisation exists outside of the historically-defined

Kizevak resource, over at least two subparallel zones striking at least 300m, to a depth of 170m, but it remains open in all directions. 

 

At the time of its takeover of Tethyan, Adriatic managing director Paul Cronin suggested the Raska district could match the quality of its Vares project in Bosnia, where a definitive feasibility study is being prepared.

 

Adriatic, which counts Sandfire Resources and as its major shareholder, is fully funded, having recently closed a US$20 million convertible offer with the Andrew Forrest-backed Queen's Road Capital Investment. 

 

Adriatic shares, which have traded between 78c and $2.86 over the past year, were up 3% this morning to $2.23, valuing it at $471 million.