Alicanto Minerals Ltd (ASX: AQI) has announced a highly encouraging exploration update for its optioned Oxberg and Naverberg projects within the Bergslagen Mining District of Southern Sweden.
The company reported the identification of a new regional scale hydrothermal mineralised system at Wolf Mountain, prospective for copper-gold mineralisation.
AQI said that identified rock chip results include up to 11.9% copper across four separate mapped mineralised trends that intermitantly outcrop through shallow glacial till cover over 1 km strike and are completely open.
Alicanto said that maiden diamond drill testing of multiple high grade Copper, Zinc, and Gold targets is ongoing at Naverberg and Oxberg.
The company reported that the fully-funded diamond drill programme is also ongoing at the Arakaka Gold Project in Guyana.
Oxberg-Naverberg project
The Naverberg and Oxberg VMS (Volcanogenic Massive Sulphide) Projects are located within the highly endowed Zn-Pb-Ag-Cu-Au Bergslagen Mining District of Southern Sweden.
The Wolf Mountain Prospect sits in a regional scale NNW trending structural corridor which controls the loci of intrusions of a variety of different ages and compositions as well as mineralisation of various styles.
Historically, high-grade copper occurrences at Wolf Mountain Prospect were part of the stringer systems feeding VMS deposits at Oxberg and Naverberg.
New high-grade Copper-Gold target
Alicanto reported that through regional mapping, its geologists have identified a previously undiscovered and undrilled regional scale hydrothermal system prospective for both high-grade and bulk tonnage Copper-Gold mineralisation at the Wolf Mountain Project area.
The company reported that at Wolf Mountain, the large hydrothermal system has been identified over more than 14 kilometres, trending NNW. The company said that multiple new mineral occurences have been identified at Wolf Mountain Prospect.
Alicanto said that it is increasing its ground position in the highly endowed and underexplored Zn-Pb-Ag-Cu-Au Bergslagen Mining District to more than 130km2 to cover the identified system and new target areas.
Rock chips of ~12% copper
Alicanto reported that the mapping and sampling have, to date, identified numerous, sub-parallel, NNW trending lines of workings over more than a kilometre with rock chips up to 11.9% Copper.
The company said that these targets extend over more than a kilometre in outcrop and remain open, limited only by degree of outcrop from beneath shallow glacial till cover sequences, typically less than 10 metres of cover.
AQI reported that the newly identified system consists of multiple mineralised trends over more than a kilometre of width with the potential for further trends under cover within the >3km wide structural corridor .
The company said that the potential for further similar trends in mineralisation to the West is supported by the identification of the Thunder Mountain Iron-Copper occurrence to the South-West of the Project area.
Alicanto reported that it intends to explore for further mineralised trends unde cover using ground geophysics to identify areas of conductive sulphide occurences.
Guyana project update
The Company has a portfolio of gold projects in Guyana, South America, which includes the Arakaka Project and the Ianna Gold Project.
In June 2019, the Company has announced that Nord Gold SE has entered into an Earn in Agreement, whereby Alicanto granted Nordgold the exclusive right to acquire a 100% interest in the Arakaka Gold Project, Guyana.
AQU announced that a 12,000 metre diamond drill programme is currently ongoing at the Arakaka Gold Project in Guyana fully funded under the Earn-In-Agreement with NordGold SE with results anticipated in the coming weeks.
Other drilling updates
The company reported that 1000 metres of maiden diamond drill testing of multiple high grade Copper, Zinc and Gold targets is ongoing at Naverberg and Oxberg.
At Naverberg, the company had reported that multiple untested targets were identified with high grade rock chips to 26.1% Zinc, 13.5% Lead, and 2.8% Copper. At Oxberg, multiple undrilled targets with rock chips up to 9.4% Zinc, 11.9% Copper and 3.7% Lead were previously reported.
Next steps
Alicanto Minerals said that an initial compilation of available datasets will supported by filed mapping and surface geochemical sampling during the summer month prior to initial geophysical campaigns and drill planning. The company said that the drilling within the project area is possible year-round.
Alicanto announced that it intends to complete its maiden 1000 metres of drilling on its initial targets on its Sweden Projects this quarter.
In addition, the company said that ground geophysical programs including IP have been proposed for the newly identified Wolf Mountain target area to commence over the coming weeks.
Management statements
Alicanto’s Chief Executive Officer, Peter George, said: “The Bergslagen Mining District is world famous for producing large scale & high grade VMS style copper-gold deposits (> 25Mt).
With the intensive work that our exploration team has done on the ground in the last few months at Naverberg and Oxberg and interrogating the research undertaken in the past by others – we now believe that we have identified a previously unrecognised, large-scale hydrothermal system >14 km long at Wolf Mountain Prospect, prospective for high-grade and bulk-tonnage Copper-Gold which has overprinted part of the Western extents of our Naverberg and Oxberg projects.
The Wolf Mountain system appears to have occurred some 20 Million years after the formation of the limestone ore horizon hosting the VMS deposits (as previously reported by Alicanto), and has been made possible through the re-mobilisation of the same structures that formed the VMS deposits.
Our research has discovered that in the past, it was believed that the high-grade copper occurrences at Wolf Mountain Prospect were part of the stringer systems feeding VMS deposits at Oxberg and Naverberg – given the presence of the metals, minerals and structures that we have now found at Wolf Mountain this shows many similarities with the same occurrences at the world famous Aitik Copper-Gold mine (in Swedens north) which produces over 39Mt of ore per annum.
The company has secured an additional 80km2 of tenure (AQI 100%), bringing a third Project into the Companies portfolio in Sweden, Wolf Mountain and the total tenure in the Bergslagen region to more than 130km2.
This is an exciting time for the company with results from the maiden 1000 metre, first pass, diamond drill program targeting our high-grade Copper-Gold-Zinc-Lead and Silver VMS prospects are eagerly anticipated.
The team is also hard at work with geophysical experts ‘Southern Geoscience’ reinterpreting all of the historical & existing geophysical data in the region. With todays technology and computing power we expect to deliver new targets for the next phase of exploration & drilling on the project areas. Further Geophysical surveys are being planned at the moment and we will inform the market of these as we proceed.
In addition results from the 12,000 metre diamond drilling program at the Arakaka Gold Project in Guyana, fully funded by NordGold SE, are anticipated in the near future”.
