Allied Critical Metals (CSE:ACM) has received new drill results which represent an “important” step in evaluating the potential of previously under-explored breccia-hosted mineralisation systems at the Borralha Tungsten Project in Portugal.
Drilling intersected over 200m of breccia-hosted tungsten mineralisation at the newly defined Venise Breccia target within the project.
Ongoing drilling at the target has also intersected zones of hydrothermal alteration and quartz-sulphide veining containing visible wolframite, molybdenite and chalcopyrite.
Allied Critical says the observations support the interpreted continuity of a historically recognised breccia system that had not previously been systematically tested using modern exploration methods.
CEO Roy Bonnell says at the Venise Breccia target, the company identified mineralisation at a second breccia complex to add to the Santa Helena Breccia target.
“Located approximately 400m from the Santa Helena Breccia deposit, which underpins our recently announced initial preliminary economic assessment, this result reinforces our view that the Borralha Project hosts multiple breccia systems capable of supporting meaningful resource growth and mine life extension,” Bonnell says.
“While these are early-stage observations, the scale and continuity of alteration and mineralisation encountered to date are highly encouraging and support our strategy of systematically evaluating historically recognised but under-explored targets using modern exploration techniques.
“As we advance our fully funded 20,000m drill program, we believe the Borralha Project has the potential to evolve into a district-scale tungsten system of strategic importance for Europe and NATO-aligned supply chains.”
The current 20,000m drilling program is targeting expansion of the current resource estimate, conversion of inferred resources into higher confidence categories, and the potential extension of mine life beyond the initial 11-year plan. The program is also targeting to evaluate the throughput optimisation and future project scale growth.
Venise Breccia forms part of Allied Critical’s broader strategy to evaluate historically recognised but under-explored breccia-hosted mineralisation styles within the Borralha mining concession.
Allied Critical believes that combining historical geological knowledge with modern exploration techniques and drilling provides an opportunity to reassess mineralised zones that were not fully evaluated during the historical mining period.
Additional drill results and laboratory assays from the Venise target will be released as they become available.
Allied Critical Metals is an explorer and developer focused on two historical tungsten projects in northern Portugal – Borralha and Vila Verde.
Write to Aaliyah Rogan at Mining.com.au
Images: Allied Critical Metals
