Blackthorn Resource hits world class 243m at 5% copper at Kitumba
Blackthorn Resources (ASX: BTR)
has intersected its best ever drill result at its wholly-owned Kitumba
project in Zambia with infill drilling returning an intercept of 243
metres at 5% copper from 208 metres.
Another hole intersected 81 metres at 1% copper from 304 metres, in line with past results.
“We are delighted to report the best intercept at Kitumba to date with
KITDD_027 returning a spectacular result of 243 metres at 5% copper,
surpassing our previous best result in S36_038,” managing director Scott
Low said.
“Kitumba has yielded some world class grades, and we have great optimism about the economic potential for the Project.”
He
added the company looked forward to releasing the remainder of the
assay results and an updated mineral resource estimated later in the
year as Phase 7 drilling nears completion.
Infill drilling at
Kitumba is now complete and the company is drilling an additional
exploration hole to assess the potential for deep hypogene
mineralisation as seen in S36-026 (41 metres at 2.31% copper from 569
metres) immediately to the north of Kitumba.
Kitumba is part of
Blackthorn’s wholly-owned Mumbwa Project in west central Zambia that
covers 250 square kilometres and is being explored for Iron Oxide Copper
Gold style mineralisation.
Kitumba Infill Drilling
The
Phase 7 drilling program was designed to focus on the conversion of
material in the Indicated category to Measured in the high grade core. A
total of 10 infill holes and 3 geotechnical holes were planned.
The
extension of holes S36-026 and S36-028 as well as a single angled hole
from surface - KITDD_034 – were drilled to assess the potential for
further deep hypogene mineralisation while geotechnical holes were
designed to characterise the structural and engineering properties of
material within the current extent of any potential future mining
operations.
5,311 m of diamond drill core has been completed in
Phase 7 to date, including all infill holes and the extensions on
S36-026 and S36-028. Three rigs are currently drilling the geotechnical
holes and the deep hypogene target.
KITDD_027 was drilled as an
infill hole within the Kitumba mineral resource and 370 samples,
including quality control samples, were submitted to the laboratory for
analysis.
Besides the wide high grade intercept of 243 metres at 5% copper from 208 metres, KITDD_027 also intersected:
- 7 metres at 19.5% copper from 215 metres;
- 7 metres at 10.4% copper from 241 metres;
- 7 metres at 11.1% copper from 338 metres; and
- 8 metres at 10.5% copper from 357 metres.
KITDD_024
was drilled to test the eastern extent of the high-grade mineralised
zone with the purpose of improving resource confidence.
A series of 318 samples, including quality control samples, were submitted to the laboratory for analysis.
This also intercepted 35 metres at 0.63% copper from 133 metres and 11 metres at 1.87% copper from 208 metres.
Kitumba
Kitumba
has a current Indicated Resource of 87.6 million tonnes at 1.17% copper
with the Pre-Feasibility Study expected to be released in the second
half of 2013.
The study has identified underground mining, along
with a combination of flotation, leaching and Solvent Extraction and
Electro Winning (SXEW) processes as the preferred mining and treatment
options.
As part of the underground mining assessment, sub-level
open stoping and sub-level cave mining methods have been considered and
are being evaluated.
Analysis
The blockbuster infill drilling result of 243 metres at 5% copper adds to the confidence that Blackthorn Resources has in converting the Indicated Resource at the world class Kitumba
project into a Measured Resource. A Resource extension may also be
included as part of this program.
Shares in the company could
receive further kicks as more assay results as released in the lead up
to the release of the Pre-Feasibility Study. Although the share price
kick likely today is a good start.
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