Maiden drilling at the Canyon Prospect has confirmed a large copper oxide system less than 4km from Austral's Mt Kelly Heap Leach and SX-EW facility
Best intercept of 24m @ 1.03% Cu (including 14m @ 1.60% Cu) from Canyon South represents high-grade oxide mineralisation
Mineralisation confirmed over a 1.2km strike extent across three prospect areas - Canyon North, Central and South - and remains open in all directions
The system was largely undetected by historical explorers due to concealment beneath transported cover and silcrete
Canyon has the potential to provide future feed directly into Austral's existing processing infrastructure, avoiding the need for new capital-intensive facilities
Austral Resources Australia (ASX: AR1) has confirmed a significant blind copper oxide discovery at its Canyon Prospect, located less than four kilometres from its Mt Kelly processing facility in Queensland's Mt Isa region.
First assay results from maiden drilling have returned standout intercepts including 24m at 1.03% copper from 74 metres, including a high-grade interval of 14m at 1.60% copper, alongside 57m at 0.44% copper from just four metres depth.
Chairman David Newling says,
“Discoveries of this scale and proximity to existing infrastructure are uncommon. Rather than requiring significant investment in new processing facilities or long haulage distances, Canyon has the potential to leverage infrastructure already in place at Mt Kelly. As we continue to define the size and continuity of the system, this creates a potential pathway to future feed for the operation and reinforces our strategy of growing copper inventories around our existing infrastructure.
These results are another example of the value we see within our broader Mt Kelly district and demonstrate the success of our renewed exploration focus on identifying opportunities that can deliver both geological scale and potential commercial advantages.”
Copper oxide mineralisation, comprising predominantly malachite with azurite and chrysocolla, has now been intersected across a strike extent exceeding 1.2 kilometres spanning three prospect areas: Canyon North, Central and South. Mineralisation remains open in all directions, signalling considerable exploration upside.
Critically, much of the system had been concealed beneath transported cover and silcrete, explaining why previous surface exploration techniques failed to detect it. Geological observations suggest a sediment-hosted copper deposit style, a type capable of forming extensive mineralised systems.
Follow-up drilling, metallurgical testwork and step-out programs are planned across all three prospect areas.
About us:
Austral Resources Australia Ltd is an ASX listed copper cathode producer operating in the Mt Isa region, Queensland, Australia. Its Mt Kelly copper oxide heap leach and solvent extraction electrowinning (SX-EW) plant has a nameplate capacity of 30,000tpa of copper cathode. The recent acquisition of the Rocklands Facility enables the dual processing capabilities for copper sulphides and copper oxides, as well as an increased exposure to gold. Austral has recently embarked on an aggressive growth and consolidation strategy across the World Class Mount Isa Region, which includes the Rocklands Deposit. Austral now owns a significant copper inventory with a JORC compliant Mineral Resource Estimate standing at 64 Mt @ 0.73% Cu (468,414t of contained copper)(comprising of 52.8Mt @ 0.74% Cu at the Lady Annie Project – 8.8Mt at 0.75% Cu Measured MRE, 33.0Mt at 0.76% Cu Indicated MRE and 11.0Mt at 0.69% Cu Inferred MRE and 11.26Mt at 0.69% Cu at the Rocklands Project – 9.12Mt at 0.72% Cu Indicated MRE and 2.14Mt at 0.55% Cu Inferred MRE), two processing facilities, as well as 2,101km2 of highly prospective exploration tenure in the heart of the Mt Isa district, a world class copper and base metals province. The Company intends to implement an intensive exploration and development program designed to extend the life of mine, increase its resource base and continually review options to commercialise its copper resources. Equivalent material properties and microstructure for a variety of alloys. PM-HIP manufacturing is helping alleviate the strained domestic supply chain for large scale castings and forgings.
Contact details:
Investor & Media Relations | Wilamina Russo M: +61 450 646 609 E: [email protected]
