A Canadian mining company has pumped another $5 million into copper exploration in Cloncurry.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
Planned work programs will include follow-up drilling on discoveries made in 2017, testing of new targets and supporting works for the active full feasibility study on the proposed Eva Copper Mine.
Mineral exploration company Altona who has completed initial exploration, merged with Copper Mountain in April to deliver the Cloncurry Copper Project.
The Copper Project is nestled between MMG’s Dugald River zinc mine and Glencore’s Ernest Henry copper mine, about 60km north Cloncurry and about 180km from Glencore’s copper smelter in Mount Isa.
Altona Mining's 2017 exploration drilling program, which was shallow and reconnaissance in nature, tested several significant copper-in-soil anomalies at the Companion, Veiled and Quamby prospects. These prospects add to an emerging cluster of copper-gold discoveries located 30km south of the Company's proposed Eva Copper Mine.
Drilling results include 32 metres grading 1.48 per cent copper and 0.98g/t gold at Companion, 74 metres at 0.53 per cent copper, 0.23g/t gold at Veiled and 13 metres at 0.61 per cent copper, 4.23g/t gold at the Quamby prospect.
Notable were the higher gold ratios compared to deposits included in the mine plan for the Eva development. High silver values at Quamby and high cobalt values at Veiled were also recorded.
This year’s exploration campaign includes drilling at the Companion and Veiled prospects and will aim to extend previously encountered mineralisation.
Ground based Induced Polarity (IP) geophysical surveys will be deployed to guide future drilling at the Reaper, Brolga and Harvest prospects. Systematic regional and detailed soil geochemistry will be executed across regional tenure to develop a new pipeline of targets.
It is envisaged that a 7 million tonnes per annum open pit copper-gold mine and concentrator will be developed at the Project.