AusQuest (ASX:AQD) says assays from the first two holes in its current diamond program extend the Cangallo Porphyry Copper-Gold Project’s mineralised system to at least 800m vertical depth.
The company is drilling below the approximately 350m depth limit of previous reverse circulation (RC) work at the project in Peru.
In the northern area, hole CANDD004 returned 355.8m @ 0.31% copper (Cu) and 0.05 grams per tonne gold (Au) from 34.2m.
The intersection included 40m @ 0.48% Cu and 0.06g/t Au, containing 10m @ 0.73% Cu and 0.08g/t Au. It also included 20m @ 0.53% Cu and 0.07g/t Au from 282m.
AusQuest says the results support the lateral continuity of copper mineralisation in the north and indicate a possible southerly plunge to ‘higher-grade’ zones.
Hole CANDD003, the first diamond hole in the southern mineralised corridor, intersected 348m @ 0.23% Cu and 0.06g/t Au from 178m.
This included 10m @ 0.46% Cu and 0.07g/t Au, 10m @ 0.56% Cu and 0.14g/t Au, and 10m @ 0.40% Cu and 0.07g/t Au.
Additional ‘lower-grade’ intersections continued towards the end of the 880.4m hole, including 14m @ 0.12% Cu from 814m and 44m @ 0.13% Cu from 836m to the end of the hole.
All reported intervals are downhole lengths, with true widths unknown.
Managing Director Graeme Drew says CANDD003 extends mineralisation below the previous RC drilling limit.
“Drill hole CANDD003 is particularly important as it demonstrates that the porphyry system extends well below the depth of RC drilling in the south, with copper mineralisation now extending to at least 800m vertical depth,” Drew says.
Copper in CANDD003 occurs within veined volcanic rocks, narrow porphyritic dykes, and hydrothermal breccias. AusQuest interprets the dykes and breccias as possible pathways for mineralising fluids from a nearby source intrusion.
In CANDD004, the company attributes much of the mineralisation above approximately 250m to supergene enrichment. Deeper zones are more commonly associated with porphyritic dykes and hydrothermal breccias.
Diamond drilling will continue in the northern area over the next couple of months to test for hypogene copper mineralisation below the oxide zone. Further drilling in the southern area is planned after AusQuest receives Stage 4 permits.
AusQuest is an Australia-based mineral explorer that owns Cangallo through its wholly owned subsidiary Questdor. The project comprises 14 granted mineral concessions approximately 25km east of Chala in southern Peru.
Write to France Pinzon at Mining.com.au
Images: AusQuest
