Nikolal .... I think that you will find that NCM, like everyone...

Nikolal .... I think that you will find that NCM, like everyone in the new East Tennant (ET) province, is doing large scale (aerial) geophysics initially to try and narrow down potential targets for follow up exploration, including drilling. That is best practice methodology and a major like NCM would most likely follow that. You would not drill blindly, especially when the cost of a 1000 m hole (which is what you might have to drill to in some of the ET area where the cover is thick) is around a cool 1/4 million. Even a major with deep pockets would do the most cost effective exploration. I seem to recall that NCM received co-funding for such work and they have now followed that up with drilling. They may well have also done some ground geophysics after the larger scale aerial surveys, as Inca has done, to try and narrow down targets even further. The fact that NCM now report that they are going to do IP (ground) surveys - clearly after having done some initial drilling - suggests to me that they were not drilling "blind" to just check basement geology but are potentially doing IP to follow up on whatever drilling has thrown up. As Kalenn says, IP is largely used to target sulphides and the fact that this is to be done is a most encouraging sign for me.

I would love for them to be a bit more expansive in the Quarterly reports on what they have actually done and what they found in the ET area, but as a major I doubt if we will see that level of detail yet.