Alicanto Minerals Ltd (ASX: AQI) has announced a highly encouraging exploration update on its Wolf Mountain Project in Southern Sweden.
The company reported that the first diamond core drill hole of the maiden multi-hole drill programme at Wolf Mountain has intersected more than 60 metres of strong alteration and disseminated sulphides including chalcopyrite and pyrite with the hole ending within the mineralisation.
AQI said that the drilling is targeting a large-scale, copper-gold target with up to 11.9% copper and 2.9 g/t gold in rock chips from surface.
The company reported that the disseminated sulphide mineralisation in this hole is interpreted to be a halo representing the margins of the main target zone. AQI said that the drill rig is now moving to the interpreted main target zone.
Wolf Mountain project
The Wolf Mountain project is part of Alicanto’s flagship Oxberg and Naverberg volcanogenic massive sulphide (VMS) projects, in Sweden’s highly endowed Bergslagen mining district.
Bergslagen hosts several major VMS deposits.
Drilling at Wolf Mountain
The company had recently commenced a maiden multi-hole drill programme at Wolf Mountain.
AQI reported that the programme is targeting multiple Induced Polarisation (IP) geophysical targets never previously tested. It may be noted that the recent surveying had identified multiple new, large-scale, undrilled copper-gold anomalies.
Coincident with the IP anomalies are surface rock-chip results of up to 11.9% Copper and 2.9 g/t Gold across four separate mapped mineralised trends over 1 km strike that are completely open and has never been drill tested.
The company reported that multiple IP anomalies have also been identified under shallow cover and remain unsampled and undrilled.
Alicanto said that the IP surveying only covers 300 metres of strike on regional scale alteration and structures identified and mapped by Alicanto geologists over >14 km considered highly prospective for both high-grade and bulk tonnage Copper-Gold mineralisation
Wide zones of sulphides intersected
Alicanto Minerals reported that the first hole (VB 20-01) drilled at the Wolf Mountain Copper-Gold target area within the Bergslagen district of Southern Sweden has intersected significant widths of disseminated mineralisation including pyrite and chalcopyrite.
The company announced that the maiden drilling has successfully intersected more than 60 metres of disseminated chalcopyrite mineralisation from 54.25 to 117.5 metres down hole. The drill hole ended in disseminated mineralisation.
The figure below shows visually estimated pyrite and/or chalcopyrite abundances for Wolf Mountain. The company said that the presence of Cu sulphides has been confirmed by portable XRF.
AQI reported that the alteration around the mineralisation is indicative of a large-scale, copper bearing hydrothermal system. Alicanto said that distal pyrite mineralisation was encountered from 20 metres to 54.25 metres downhole.
The company said that the chalcopyrite mineralisation was coincident with strong silica-garnet-biotite alteration similar to that observed in rock chipping on surface that has yielded up to 11.9 % copper and 2.9 g/t gold.
Next steps
Alicanto announced that it has commenced initial drill testing of the multiple large-scale IP anomalies, with results anticipated over the next few months.
AQI said that it intends to complete maiden diamond drilling over the Oxberg and Naverberg target areas in the coming months.
Alicanto Minerals has also proposed an initial compilation of available datasets will supported by filed mapping and surface geochemical sampling during the summer month with further geophysical campaigns prior to drill planning. The company said that the drilling within the project area is possible year-round.
Management comments
Alicanto’s Chief Executive Officer, Peter George said: “Alicanto is excited to announce that maiden diamond core drilling targeting multiple large-scale, high-grade copper-gold mineralisation at Wolf Mountain in Sweden has intersected at least 60 metres of disseminated sulphides of typically 1-5% including logged chalcopyrite and pyrite mineralisation and intense wall rock alteration in the first drill hole.
Initial geophysical Induced Polarization surveying (IP) at the Wolf Mountain Prospect last year identified multiple, large-scale anomalies that have never been drill tested prospective for high-grade copper-gold mineralisation.
Previously mapped, mineralised trends with coincident high-grade rock-chips of up to 11.9% copper at surface were highlighted by the survey but, excitingly, further large-scale targets were also been identified under thin glacial cover. This drilling represents the first of these exciting new targets to be tested.
Drilling is interpreted by Alicanto geologists to have intersected the margins or ‘halo’ of what could be a large-scale mineralising system in the Wolf Mountain area.
The rig has now been mobilised towards the interpreted geophysical higher intense anomaly of the system. Drill results will be anticipated over the coming weeks.”