Alma Metals (ASX:ALM) has reported thick copper mineralisation from infill drilling at its Briggs Copper Project in Queensland as it works to upgrade inferred resources to the indicated category ahead of a Prefeasibility Study.
The project is located about 50km west-southwest of Gladstone and currently hosts a mineral resource estimate (MRE) of 2 million tonnes of copper (Cu) metal at a 0.15% Cu cut-off. The latest assays cover four holes drilled in the southeastern part of the MRE.
Hole 26BRD0046 targeted the Southern Porphyry, intersecting extensive quartz stockwork veins hosting chalcopyrite and pyrite. It returned 386.6m @ 0.20% Cu from 43m, including 40.6m @ 0.31% Cu.
Holes 26BRD0043 to 26BRD0045 tested a lightly drilled section between the Briggs Central and Southern porphyries. Both holes returned moderate copper sulphide mineralisation alongside highly elevated molybdenum.
Hole 26BRD0045 returned 266m @ 0.13% Cu and 91 parts per million (ppm) molybdenum from 95m, including 48m @ 0.16% Cu and 223ppm molybdenum.
Molybdenum grades across the three holes were two to four times higher than the average MRE molybdenum grade.
The results are part of an 80-hole program designed to infill the MRE to a nominal spacing of 80m. Alma has completed 13 holes for about 4,500m to date.
Managing Director Frazer Tabeart says the results build confidence in the geological model.
“The grade distribution across the southeastern MRE is behaving exactly as predicted,” Tabeart says.
“The elevated molybdenum values in 26BRD0043 to 26BRD0045 are a further reminder that the by-product potential here adds value to the project economics.”
Exploration hole 26BRD0052 is currently at 370m, testing a copper and molybdenum soil anomaly. It is the first of four planned holes, totalling about 1,250m, to test west of the MRE.
Infill drilling will resume once the current program is complete, with initial metallurgical results expected later this quarter.
Alma holds a 51% interest in the project under a joint venture with Canterbury Resources (ASX:CBY) and is funding the final stage of an earn-in to reach 70%.
Alma Metals is an Australian copper developer advancing the large-scale Briggs Project in Queensland, alongside its early-stage East Kimberley Copper Project in Western Australia.
Write to JC Villarba at Mining.com.au
Images: Alma Metals
