There have been a few comments after recent announcements suggesting that no end of grab samples or "pretty pictures" from the underground adits really means much.
"I'll make a re-entry when I see some decent drill results from surface" seems to be a common refrain.
Now, if EUC was only taking rock chip samples, photos, and trench samples from surface, in a greenfields area, then I would be in agreement.
But when you are searching for high grade narrow vein structures containing the ore, with the width of veins often less than a metre wide, you can drill quite a number of holes, at say 100m spacing, without striking the prize you are seeking - you might have missed a rich vein by only half a metre or so, but you would have no way of telling.
To get a truly decent understanding of the veins, and the structures controlling them, you would have to drill until the area in question resembled "swiss cheese". The geologists exploring the area would just love to be able to beam themselves below ground to get a close-up look at the surrounding dirt and rock, rather than drilling from surface, fingers crossed, worrying about the cost of every dry hole.
But wait. Hang on a minute!
This area of the old Dobsina mine is already "swiss cheese". Geologists don't have to "beam themselves down". They can just walk in, and follow the refurbished adits. There are said to be over 110,000 metres (yes, 110 km !), of underground workings, adits that followed the high grade veins from surface, extending far into the hillsides, and reaching up to 500m below ground.
While only a small portion of these adits have so far been repaired to allow safe entry, there is already evidence of significant potential - evidence that there is still plenty of high grade material left from historic mining. And we have even been shown the photos to prove it.
And now that the underground areas have been rehabilitated to provide stable locations from which to drill targeted areas surrounding the visual expressions of the ores they are searching for, we are going to see a much more accurate definition of the resource, and in much quicker time.
Remember, the large bulk of the $20 million is still sitting in the kitty - enough to enable a small army to drill away to their heart's content over coming months.
It's getting to the exciting part !
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