Exploration is as much an art as it is a science...
In my view science killed the first hole here (DD-04), too steep and drilled out of the system - it was always a risk to drill more vertically and away, and the planning turned a confirmation hole into an exploration hole targeting deep (underground mining) mineralisation = mistake!
legitimate hole, but not first up...why not test above DD-02, in the open-pitable, higher probability zone?
They would not have known this prior to drilling of course, but that is where the art comes in - for the first hole play the odds AND the geology.
In short they needed to drill parallel to, not diverting away from, the previous hole (DD-02).
They took an unnecessary risk and it didn't pay off.
The first hole was obviously drilling from the same drill pad as DD-02 (or very close), so after visualising the DD-04 core they might have chosen to again drill from the same pad, but as a shallower angle (say 50 degrees) to drill slightly above the previous hole.
DD-04 has not been a wasted hole, far from it, but it was not what the exploration programme needed for several reasons, no less the ability of the drilling programme to maximise its impact through maintaining funding support.
In case you are not sure what I am talking about...as an example say you have 10 holes planned, all part of the geological story, but some with more confidence of the outcome than others. You may also have included a couple of hail-Mary shots.
As is often the case, the drilling budget is usually fixed, but often contingent based on the progressive drilling results. Drill some good results early, and you may just be able to add some additional holes to the programme.
To maintain corporate (funding) support, and thereby maximise the ability to acquire important geological information, one would not drill the high-risk hail-Mary shots first!
I just hope the academics on this one realise that the best way to actually achieve their objective is through a well supported (and funded) drilling programme. One should therefore be a little smarter in our planning - to ensure one feeds the chickens whilst still obtaining important geological information.
Anyway, enough on the strategy...
DD-06 is interesting and may surprise and DD-07 can be expected to have good grades as it is targeting the high-grade central zone of DD-02.
I also hope they go back and drill the shallow hole I mentioned from the DD-02/04 drill pad.
I'd expect a recovery on the next lot of results (today might even be the purge the stock needed), but will need material news to push back above recent levels.
If not from drilling, then their other activities.
Cheers
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