NEWMONT Mining is going back to exploration field work for six months at the Morobe gold project it shares with Triple Plate Junction in Papua New Guinea. Another drilling campaign there failed to score.

Royalty free image of "Derek J" courtesy of Phil Watt.

Triple Plate Junction's PNG projects are in blue.

Back in February, London-listed TPJ revealed that Newmont’s five-month, 3019m, diamond core drilling campaign that ended in December failed to hit economic grades out of its five holes at the Hides Creek prospect of the project.

The follow-up diamond core drilling program which totalled three kilometres was at the Gumots prospect, which had “no significant results to report” according to TPJ this week.

“Given the results of the Gumots drilling (and some access issues), Newmont has decided to suspend active drilling for an anticipated six-month period, whilst the project focus is directed at additional exploration field work for the purpose of opening up and de-risking future drilling at the numerous additional potential drill targets across the territory,” TPJ said.

The London-based explorer said there are 13 additional drill targets in the project area.

It spoke of the Minawa and Pade prospects, where field teams have “defined large footprints of encouraging surface copper and gold mineralisation”.

“I am, of course, disappointed that the drilling results indicate that we have not yet hit a material high grade intersection at Hides Creek or Gumots, but it must be remembered that we have only drilled eight holes and at what is a colossal exploration project with many prospects," TPJ chief executive officer Fraser McGee said.

“To have hit a massive intersection in the first few holes was always an ambitious hope. The programme initially commenced in July 2011 and we expect that it will continue for many years.”

Triple Plate Junction has 25% carried interest in the project until production and revealed there were some traces of gold while other mineralisation encountered included pyrite, molybdenite and chalcopyrite (copper sulphide).

The Morobe JV (Newmont 75%, TPJ 25%) – not to be confused with the Morobe Mining Joint Ventures company in the region, which is half-owned by Newcrest Gold and Harmony Gold – covers 3761sq.km over various exploration licences around Wau in the Morobe province.

Click here to read the rest of today's news stories.