Bulls N’ Bears Big Hits examines notable drill intercepts recently revealed on the ASX, including White Cliff Minerals’ 58-metre hit at 3.08 per cent copper and 13.3 grams per tonne (g/t) silver at its Rae project in Canada.
Other interesting drill hits were reported from Benz Mining Corporation’s Glenburgh project in Western Australia’s northwest and Koonenberry Gold’s Enmore gold project in New South Wales.
Let’s dive in.
White Cliff Minerals (ASX: WCN)
Rae copper project,
Nunavut, Canada.
Hit: 58m assaying 3.08 per cent copper and 13.3g/t silver
White Cliff Minerals recently reported a reverse circulation drill intercept of 58m assaying 3.08 per cent copper and 13.3g/t silver from 52m, including a high-grade 18m run assaying 5.21 per cent copper and 22.33g/t silver from 69m.
The drill hole was the first in White Cliff’s exploration drilling of its Danvers district, which forms part of the company’s 1228-square-kilometre Rae copper project in Nunavut, Canada. Over the subsequent two weeks, the company followed up the impressive results with two further outstanding runs in its second and third holes.
White Cliff’s maiden drilling program was intended to be about orientation and scout exploration to identify mineralisation at Danvers, so having its first assay results returned with a nearly 60m hit at more than 3 per cent copper was an outstanding beginning.
Six days later, White Cliff reported another outstanding drill run of 175m assaying 2.5 per cent copper and 8.66g/t silver from 7.6m depth, including 14m going 7.55 per cent copper and 25.8g/t silver from 138m.
The last 60m of the second hole averaged a stunning 3.9 per cent copper and 14.96g/t silver to its final depth of 182.88m, where it ended in mineralisation. The hole’s bottom 1.5m drilled so far, graded 4.46 per cent copper and 11.58g/t silver and remains open at depth.
Samples from that hole were assigned assay priority due to the abundance of visible sulphides in the drill chips. Management says the hole’s outstanding results justify the company’s confidence in its initial visual evidence.
White Cliff believes the drill hole ranks among the most significant copper intersections globally within the past 50 years and comfortably sits within the top 10 reported “grade-metre” copper results.
It said the company’s improving geological understanding of the Danvers exploration area points to a mineralised system extending from surface to more than 175m vertical depth and potentially for up to 7km of strike to the northeast and southwest.
Based on the early results, White Cliffs has high hopes it will be the vanguard of more big hits.
As if on cue, White Cliff then unveiled an intercept in a third hole of 90m at 4 per cent copper and 7.5g/t silver from surface, including a high-grade intercept of 18m assaying 6.5 per cent copper and 11.4g/t silver from 26m.
That primary intercept also included a 1.52m run averaging a remarkable 19.45 per cent copper and 34.1g/t silver from 30m and another high-grade run of 14m going 7.7 per cent copper and 16.2g/t silver from 61m.
The third hole was designed to test the thickness of the mineralisation and was drilled towards the southeast, perpendicular to the strike of the copper-rich breccias. Results confirm continuity of high-grade mineralisation reported in the headline hole.
White Cliff says the drilling program to date has enabled it to dial in on the high-grade copper zones. It will return to site shortly to drill out the new mineralisation as it steps out along a 9.5-kilometre faulted structure.
Even without other supporting intercepts, the second and third holes at Danvers confirm significant continuity and grade across a large copper-rich breccia vein that averages about 3-4 per cent copper, imparting real significance to the potential of all the vein-hoisted breccias in the company’s tenure.
Management says it is confident it will deliver a material maiden exploration target at Danvers after completing the next round of drilling, and it expects the high-grade core at Danvers will significantly add to the target’s overall economics.
Last week, White Cliff announced it has received firm commitments to raise $14.4 million to drill its Rae copper project through the year.
The capital raise was significantly oversubscribed, with White Cliff receiving investments from several new Australian, United Kingdom, Hong Kong and Singaporean financial institutions, along with its existing institutional and sophisticated shareholders.
The company says the funds will be used to expand and accelerate its drilling and exploration activities at Rae, with drilling set to recommence from mid-July.
Benz Mining’s Glenburgh project area contains an extensive outcrop that offers clues to the local structural architecture, such as the fold style, orientation and fabric, which support Benz’ targeting model. Credit: File
Benz Mining Corporation (ASX: BNZ)
Zone 126 Glenburgh project
270km southeast of Carnarvon, WA
Hit: 2m at 6.8g/t gold from 295m
Benz Mining’s recent reverse circulation drilling of its Zone 126 target at the company’s Glenburgh project intersected 2m of high-grade gold mineralisation averaging 6.8g/t gold from 295m downhole depth.
The intercept forms part of a tantalising 102m run between 294 and 396m deep, averaging 0.32g/t gold, including 33m assaying 0.67g/t gold from 295m.
The headline hole is one of three additional holes put into the company’s Zone 126 area as part of Benz’ maiden drilling at the project.
The program targeted depth repeats or extensions of Zone 126, an area of high-grade gold mineralisation discovered by previous owners Gascoyne Resources and Helix Resources.
Drilling results from Zone 126 when Benz bought the project late last year included 10m at 11.6g/t gold, 8m at 11.6g/t, 24m at 9.1 g/t, 14m at 8.9 g/t,12m at 8.1g/t and 28m at 5g/t gold from near-surface to about 290m vertical depth.
Benz’ review of historical data and its reconnaissance mapping led it to propose a new model of a shallow plunging fold control on mineralisation within the gneissic rocks at Glenburgh.
The concept was successfully tested when the company drilled the northeast-plunging continuity of the historic Zone 126 over the following five months.
Significant intercepts from that work include 11m at 19.9g/t gold, 4m at 12.2g/t, 5m at 10.2g/t, 8m at 5.6g/t and 12m at 2.6g/t gold.
The results support Benz’ new model and define a second high-grade en echelon gold lens about 25m to 50m northeast of and 80m down-plunge from Zone 126.
At this stage, the new zone is interpreted to extend a vertical distance about 170m to 420m below surface.
Based on these results and the position of the second lens, the company’s latest modelling now points to a possible third lens that might exist further to the northeast and down-plunge from the second lens.
The tentatively interpreted third lens is currently modelled to sit about 220m to 520m below surface and between about 25m to 50m down-dip from the second lens.
The ongoing modelling appears to have been validated, with Benz saying the position of its most recent headline hit is consistent with its interpretation of a likely third high-grade gold lens.
These multiple gold zones would never have been explored without the benefit of a new structural model, with Benz saying this is the first time drilling in the area has stepped away and down-plunge from the near-surface gold anomalism.
Benz figures the headline 2m at 6.8g/t gold hit lies on the upper and outer margin of the third lens, which could thicken towards its core, as observed at Zone 126 and in the second lens.
The company sees the headline result as further validating its exploration model and adding impetus to its plan for a new round of drilling to confirm and flesh out the third lens.
While at this stage the headline hole only hints at the existence of a third lens, the model suggests that mineralisation potential remains open down-plunge and that the proposed drilling stands a good chance of defining it more broadly.
Two other step-back holes have also targeted the mineralised “gap zone” between the company’s nearby Icon and Apollo deposits.
Both holes hit broad zones of low-grade mineralisation, with a notable 220m intercept averaging 0.37g/t gold from 181m depth and ending in mineralisation. This represents one of the thickest intervals recorded on the project to date.
The broad mineralised intercepts between Icon and Apollo highlight the potential scale of the gold system at the Glenburgh project.
While high-grade discoveries remain a priority for Benz, the big low-grade gold envelope along the 4km northeast-trending Icon-Apollo structural corridor and enclosing the high-grade lenses, highlights a possible bulk mining opportunity with two clear paths to resource expansion.
The company’s Glenburgh gold project has a mineral resource estimate of 16.3 million tonnes at a grade of 1g/t gold for 510,100 ounces of contained gold, based on shallow drilling.
With the drill rig slated to soon begin a second assault on the project, Benz believes it is sitting on a district-scale gold system at Glenburgh with multi-million-ounce potential.
Benz has kicked off an ambitious 30,000m reverse circulation drilling campaign at Glenburgh, with diamond drilling set to follow in the third quarter of the year.
The program comes on the back of the company’s recent $13.5M capital raise, which will position it to aggressively advance the drilling program.
Koonenberry Gold (ASX: KNB)
Sunnyside prospect
Enmore gold project, NSW.
Hit: 102m assaying 1.10g/t gold including 9.7m at 3.57g/t gold
Koonenberry Gold has landed an emphatic 102m run assaying 1.10g/t gold from 184m, including 44m going 1.77g/t gold from 235m, which includes 9.7m at 3.57g/t gold from 252.3m.
The remarkable run was logged for the company’s third diamond drill hole at its Sunnyside prospect, which is part of its Enmore gold project in northeastern NSW.
The intercept represents a hefty 112.20 gram-metre interval with an equivalent horizontal width of 80m, measured perpendicular to the strike of a first-order 140m-wide northeast-striking host shear corridor.
The Sunnyside prospect occurs along the Sunnyside fault at the contact between 302-million-year-old Permo-Carboniferous porphyritic Enmore Monzogranite to the northwest and older sedimentary Girrakool Bed rocks to the southeast.
The shear corridor arcs gently around the near-vertical, sheared fault contact between the granite and the sediments.
The company’s previous two diamond holes were both drilled at a 55-degree dip and intercepted spectacular runs. Visible gold was reported in seven of the nine holes drilled.
The first hole, bored in granite to follow the steep granite-sediment contact, returned 170m assaying 1.75g/t gold from 77m, including 18.3m running 9.95g/t gold from 172.9m, with 0.3m going 144.5g/t gold from 173.8m.
A second similar hole returned 172.9m assaying 2.07g/t gold from 171m, including 25m going 5.23g/t gold from 194m, which included 5m running 11.09g/t gold from 213m.
The fourth and fifth holes both reported visible gold.
More recent results from the fourth hole came home with a strong run of 149.5m at 0.94g/t gold from 184.5m, including 91.5m assaying 1.15g/t gold from 184.5m that also included 2m at 13.52g/t gold from 200m.
Results are expected for the fifth hole in mid-June.
The company interprets a true width of mineralisation across the primary shear zone of about 75m.
Koonenberry hails its inaugural drilling program at Enmore as a great success, having identified a gold system extending across an area of about 260m x 300m, which remains open along strike to the southwest and northeast and at depth in the shear body.
The results provide good evidence for the system’s potential to host broad intervals of shallow gold mineralisation and high-grade gold zones at depth.
Ten holes have been put into the Sunnyside target at Enmore, with three showing visible gold. Results are pending for the remaining holes.
The company held $5.35M in cash as of the end of March and remains well funded to continue its exploration at Enmore and across its other projects.
Is your ASX-listed company doing something interesting? Contact: matt.birney@businessnews.com.au
By Doug Bright
