Patriot Resources has put more meat on the bones of its freshly minted Tonic copper discovery in Zambia, extending the prospective geophysical footprint to about 5.5 kilometres while lining up two new drill-ready targets along one of the country’s better-credentialled copper structures.
The company says its recently completed ground magnetics and induced polarisation (IP) surveys have stretched the exploration footprint southeast of Tonic, defining Blocks 1 and 2 as high-priority copper targets within the broader Mumbwa-Kitumba mineralised corridor.
Patriot’s geophysical coverage now spans about 163 hectares supporting its view that Tonic may be part of a broader, multi-target copper system.
Block 2 embraces an area measuring 600m square and is centred 3km southeast of the drilled area at Tonic. The target host is interpreted as a syenite – a coarse-grained alkaline intrusive rock - with high IP chargeability anomalies coincident with strong magnetic lineaments. Crucially, Patriot says the combination points to possible sulphide-bearing shear zones and the potential for structurally controlled copper-silver shoots.
Block 1 encloses an area of 700m by 400m, sitting a further 2.5km southeast of Block 2. It brings a slightly different flavour, sitting in a syenite-sandstone-shale setting with iron-rich alteration, quartz-carbonate veining and signs of hydrothermal fluid flow.
The original Tonic target, along with Block 1 and Block 2, feature multiple coherent IP anomalies coinciding with magnetic highs and interpreted structures, with some zones modelled as being about 20m to 60m wide and extending to 160m depth.
The company says the alteration style indicates iron-oxide copper-gold (IOCG) affinities, a tantalising piece of geological context in a region already known for that style of system. The mineralisation is tied to late stages of the Hook Granite, between 570 to 520 million years ago. Research by the University of Leicester and Ivanhoe Mines recognises the wider Mumbwa region as one of the world’s premier IOCG provinces.
The latest geophysical work builds on Patriot’s early-July maiden reverse circulation (RC) drilling at Tonic where the company reported notable copper-silver-zinc-cobalt mineralisation from surface. One hole delivered 17m at 0.41 per cent copper, 4.7 grams per tonne (g/t) silver and 0.30 per cent zinc from 29m. That interval included 7m at 0.78 per cent copper, 5.1g/t silver and 0.38 per cent zinc from 30m.
The same hole also returned 3m at 1.19 per cent copper, 4.9g/t silver, 0.56 per cent zinc and 0.014 per cent cobalt from 31m, plus 3m at 1.06 per cent copper, 25.3g/t silver and 0.97 per cent zinc from 54m. The latter interval included a sharp 1m hit at 2.56 per cent copper, 62.3g/t silver and 0.76 per cent zinc from 55m.
Patriot Resources managing director and chief executive officer Dominic Duggan said: “Extending our geophysics program from the Tonic discovery footprint has identified 2 new targets within the Mumbwa-Kitumba corridor. With two new drill targets now defined, we are building a growing pipeline of copper opportunities alongside our recent Tonic discovery, within one of Zambia’s most prospective and rapidly growing copper corridors.”
Management says the Tonic system remains open at depth and along strike, with most of its defined IP footprint remaining undrilled. Importantly, the growing target corridor now steps southeast from Tonic for a total distance of 5.5km through Block 2 southeast to Block 1. The three target zones line up on the same northwest-southeast trending Mumbwa Fault Zone which hosts Sinomine Resource Group’s Kitumba copper deposit - about 18km from Tonic - and the Target H copper-cobalt prospect, 7km away.
The Kitumba copper mine is a major greenfields open-pit copper mining project in Zambia's Central Province. Its estimated total mineral resource lies in the range of 36 million to 48 million tonnes containing an estimated 675,500 tonnes of extractable metal.
The nearby infrastructure angle would appear to not be lost on Patriot. Kitumba includes a processing facility and copper smelter due for commissioning this year, offering the sort of nearby pathway most early-stage copper explorers only dream about.
With Patriot’s phase two RC drilling and diamond drilling now on the menu, the company has moved quickly from encouraging first-pass greenfields results to a significantly bigger corridor play.
Is your ASX-listed company doing something interesting? Contact: matt.birney@businessnews.com.au
By Doug Bright
