GreenTech Metals has rebooted the remainder of its 4000-metre stage two diamond drilling program at its Whundo massive sulphide-hosted copper-zinc project in Western Australia’s West Pilbara after contractor Topdrill took a break for the festive season.
The stage two assault on the 2-kilometre-long cluster of volcanogenic massive sulphide (VMS) deposits kicked off in mid-December, focused on well-defined down-plunge electromagnetic conductor targets that point to likely mineralised shoots at the Austin, Shelby, Yannery and Ayshia zones.
GreenTech believes that if these zones carry good mineralisation, they could materially increase the existing copper-zinc resource for the project which currently stands at a total indicated and inferred 6.2 million tonnes at 1.2 per cent copper and 1.04 per cent zinc, based solely on the Whundo and Ayshia deposits.
A stage one 1710m reverse circulation drilling program, done and dusted last July, produced encouraging results supported by follow-up geophysics, prompting the current stage two campaign.
The company says it will complement the latest drilling with downhole electromagnetic geophysics on selected holes to extend the mineralisation search radius around each hole and peer ahead electronically to see what lies further down-axis below each hole.
This combination approach often produces new targets and has already served to identify the current crop of deeper electromagnetic targets.
The deepest of these targets, between Yannery and Austin, has been defined to about 600m vertical depth below surface, remains open at depth and will be tested to about half that depth by the current drilling program.
All the other electromagnetic conductor plate targets are also open at depth, including those at Whundo East and West.
GreenTech Metals executive director Tom Reddicliffe said: “We are excited to return to site and recommence drilling of a host of untested conductors associated with mineralised copper shoots identified at our Whundo VMS cluster copper project. The stage two drill program is well underway and will be supported with additional down-hole electromagnetics.”
While Topdrill keeps busy with the drill bit, GreenTech is continuing to review and reinterpret data from a high-powered, fixed-loop electromagnetic surface survey at Whundo, which it completed in late December.
Other targets around the main north-easterly strike trend remain to be fleshed out and include zones heading off undercover to the northeast and to the west or west/south-west.
If aspirational or conceptual zones such as these are included, the overall arcuate trend of mineralisation potentially doubles to about 4km.
GreenTech inked a drill-for-equity agreement with Topdrill in mid-November last year, whereby up to 35 per cent of future direct drilling costs invoiced by Topdrill can be part-paid in GreenTech shares, capped at $1 million.
Also in mid-November, GreenTech received firm commitments to raise $2.3 million in an oversubscribed placement in two tranches to sophisticated and institutional investors.
The proceeds of the placement will fund further exploration at Whundo, minor exploration tasks at the company’s 100 per cent owned Ruth Well and 51 per cent owned Osborne joint venture lithium projects, other projects and general working capital.
GreenTech says it has completed the second tranche of the placement and to cap off a stellar month for capital resources, the company also received a $140,000 grant under the WA Government’s Exploration Incentive Scheme to co-fund drilling of its Shelby target at the Whundo project.
With stage two drilling about halfway done, follow-up downhole electromagnetic surveys to be undertaken straight after the drilling and fixed-loop survey interpretation results imminent, GreenTech and its enthusiastic supporters will be on tenterhooks, keen to see what secrets will be uncovered by these combined probes into the intriguing Whundo project.
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By Doug Bright
