Managing Director Peter van der Borgh said “Our main objective is to build a profitable, long term gold mining business at Majors Creek with increasing gold production over time. Discovering additional ore sources to complement a future mine at Dargues Reef is an important part of achieving this aim, and the results to date from Exeter Farm are a big stride in the right direction.”

“We have an exploration target at Dargues of plus half a million ounces. The results from Exeter Farm, together with the recent discovery at Dreadnought and the encouraging results at Snobs, suggest a similar sized exploration target within the ‘Shadow of the Headframe’,” he added.

Exploration drilling at Tory Boy will continue next week with a diamond drilling rig. The program will explore the potential to greatly expand the new lodes and recover drill core to enable the company’s geologists to better understand the structural setting and nature of the mineralisation.

Majors Creek was the largest historical alluvial goldfield in NSW, with historical production of 1.25 million ounces. The Dargues Reef underground mine was operated between 1870-91 and 1914-16 by numerous shafts to a maximum depth of 70 metres with initial mining of oxidised ore by open cut methods to depths of up to 10m.

Cortona is an energetic explorer, with aggressive exploration programs underway targeting an increase in the Indicated and Inferred Resource at Dargues Reef of 1.44Mt @ 6.2g/t for 286,000oz to underpin a long-term gold business.

The Company has a portfolio of gold and nickel projects in Western Australia and NSW.