Native Mineral Resources (ASX:NMR) reports drilling has intersected shallow massive and semi-massive sulphides at the Maneater Polymetallic Breccia target, located in northern Queensland.
Drilling to date has revealed an intercept of almost 9m of massive, semi-massive, and disseminated sulphides between 107m and 116m downhole, and the company says this intercept is separate to the main breccia pipe which is anticipated at 170m downhole.
The results obtained so far provide an initial visual confirmation that the target sulphide-rich breccia pipe is similar to other mineralised breccia pipes in northern Queensland.
Native says it is completing a 700m deep diamond drillhole into the core of the polymetallic sulphide bearing breccia pipe referred to as Maneater Hill or Maneater Peak (exploration permit EPM28028).
Native Mineral Resources Managing Director Blake Cannavo said the company is delighted to report that drilling has intersected a previously unrecognised zone of sulphides including massive sulphides at Maneater Hill.
“The earlier than expected intercept of almost 9m of massive, semi-massive, and disseminated sulphides supports our targeting model that this is a significant, sulphide rich breccia pipe.
“The drill core looks highly promising, and the company is looking forward to continued drilling toward the main target breccia pipe”
The drill core looks highly promising, and the company is looking forward to continued drilling toward the main target breccia pipe.
Initial visual inspection of the core and some preliminary pXRF scans highlight all the expected elements including zinc, lead, copper, silver and gold.”
The company reports current drilling is at 234m downhole, and the anticipated intercept of the main breccia body is at around 170m downhole.
It says this intercept is an ‘exciting’ early development, and has demonstrated the target is a genuine sulphide rich breccia system.
Initial observations of the drill core demonstrates the sulphide intersections are predominantly pyrite, but other sulphide phases including sphalerite are present.
Native also reports drilling between 116m and the current end of hole (EOH) has revealed ‘heavily’ altered metasediments of the Hodgkinson province with quartz-carbonate veining.
Current drilling in MPD002 is oriented towards 285 degrees (magnetic) and dipping at 74 degrees with the aim of intersecting the deeper portions of the breccia mapped at surface and identified in historical drillhole MPD001 completed in 1995.
The company is using existing information combined with new geological knowledge of mineralised breccia systems in Queensland to further explore the potential for copper and gold mineralisation at the Maneater Breccia below the current level of drilling.
It plans to drill MPD002 to a depth of 700m, and results received so far may require further drilling beyond this depth.
Native says the current intercept represents a new mineralised portion of the breccia at shallow levels.
The Maneater Breccia target is located around 100km west of Cairns and 35km northeast of Chillagoe in northern Queensland, and the target is a ‘proven’ sulphide-bearing, intrusion related breccia pipe.
The company says existing information on the breccia pipe points towards a ‘high’ potential for breccia-hosted copper and gold mineralisation below the predominantly silver, lead and zinc mineralisation identified near surface and in a single diamond hole drilled in the 1990s.
Existing assays from historical drilling include up to 15.8ppm Ag, 1,810ppm Cu, 9,330ppm Zn, 10ppm Mo and increasing gold grades up to 0.05ppm Au.
Native Mineral Resource is an Australian minerals exploration company established to explore for copper and gold deposits in the Palmerville region in North Queensland, and for gold, nickel and IOCG deposits in the Eastern Goldfields and Nullarbor regions in Western Australia.
Its projects include the Palmerville Copper-Zinc-Gold Project west-northwest of Cairns in Queensland, the Eastern Goldfield Project between Kalgoorlie and Leonora in Western Australia, and the Helios IOGC Project and Central IOGC Project in the Nullarbor Greenfields in South Australia.
