Alma Metals (ASX:ALM) says the final components of the Scoping Study for the Briggs Copper Project are underway, with consultants appointed to undertake mining and mineral processing studies and at tailings management assessment.
The study is on-track for delivery in the September quarter of 2025.
Alma has planned for diamond drilling to test higher copper grades at its joint venture Briggs project, using its government grant to follow up targets identified in a previous versatile time domain electromagnetic (VTEM) survey.
Digging to a depth of 900m through the mineralised system, the company aims to develop a geophysical target on the south-west side of the current resource estimate.
The Queensland Government’s Collaborative Exploration Initiative (CEI) has provided $250,000 towards the further exploration of this drillhole.
A drill rig will be mobilised to the project following the completion of the Entitlement Offer, which is expected to close this Friday (20 June) before drilling in July.
A VTEM survey completed in 2015 across 100m spaced flight lines with a sensor height of roughly 50m above ground level noted a conductive response within a broader circular low from several datasets including a 0.505ms time channel in the B-Field Response.
Depth slices confirmed the anomaly residing between 275m below surface to roughly 650m below surface, with a conductive anomaly between 450m and 550m depth.
Alma Metals, which has a market capitalisation of $6.34 million, believes this indicates a notable spatial correlation between the conductivity high and the “higher-grade” blocks.
This program is supported by the Queensland Government’s Collaborative Exploration Initiative (CEI), which provided a $250,000 grant for further exploration of this drillhole.
Alma Metals’ Managing Director Frazer Tabeart says the south-west side of the Briggs Project offers a geophysical anomaly that may represent a deeper, previously untested zone within the system with potential for “higher-grade” mineralisation.
“Thanks to the support from the Queensland Government’s CEI grant program, we’re now able to test this target earlier than planned. It’s an exciting opportunity that could reshape our understanding of the deposit,” Tabeart says.
“In parallel, the Scoping Study for Briggs is progressing well and we look forward to sharing those results in the coming quarter for what is one of the largest undeveloped copper projects in Australia.”
As a joint venture project between Alma Metals and Canterbury Resources (ASX:CBY), the companies will further the infill of the resource estimate with additional drilling, subject to funding and the results from the CEI hole.
The Briggs Copper Project is located in a tier one jurisdiction of Queensland, boasting more than 2 million tonnes of contained copper with potential for further expansion with upcoming activities.
Alma Metals will be attending the Noosa Mining Investor Conference, held between 23-25 July, at the Peppers Noosa Resort.
Mining.com.au is an official media partner of this year’s conference.
Write to Maddison Elliott at Mining.com.au
Images: Alma Metals
