Cosmo Metals (ASX:CMO) reports it has identified wide copper zones and ‘high priority’ targets at the Yamarna Copper-Nickel-Cobalt Project in Western Australia.
The company says the program was designed to extend and infill copper rich sulphide mineralisation hosted within gabbroic rocks of the Mt Venn Igneous Complex, and all holes drilled in this program intersected significant (over 0.15%) copper mineralisation at targeted depths, with mineralised intervals comprising disseminated to massive and semi-massive sulphides, mainly pyrrhotite and chalcopyrite hosted within a mafic (gabbro) to ultramafic (pyroxenite) unit adjacent to the contact with felsic-intermediate volcanics and volcaniclastics.
Significant intersections recorded at Mt Venn includes 18m @ 0.48% Cu, 0.12% Ni and 340ppm Co in YARC021, 13m @ 0.46% Cu and 0.11% Ni from 179m including 1m @ 1.27% Cu from 191m in YARC023, as well as 17m @ 0.26% Cu from 132m in YARC017.
“We’ve now encountered thick, shallow, and continuous copper mineralisation in the 3 programs at Mt Venn in 2022″
Cosmo Managing Director James Merrillees said the latest intersections at Mt Venn continue to support our interpretation that Cosmo’s Yamarna projects host a significant mineralised system with potential for economic base metals deposits.
“We’ve now encountered thick, shallow, and continuous copper mineralisation in the 3 programs at Mt Venn in 2022, and the identification of the Minjina prospect, a new blind target less than 1km to the north of Mt Venn, supports our view of the region’s prospectivity, particularly when looked at with new eyes.
Ongoing review of the recently completed MLEM survey is expected to yield further targets and with an RC rig on the horizon we’re looking forward to testing these and the Minjina target in the coming weeks.”
Late last month, Cosmo completed a ground based MLEM survey at Yamarna to follow up ‘high-priority’ base metals targets at Yamarna to follow up priority base metal targets at Yamarna , and airborne and ground based electromagnetic geophysics has been an effective tool to detect buried massive sulphide mineralisation in the Yamarna area where all EM targets tested by drilling are explained by sulphide accumulations rather than conductive sources such as graphitic sediments and salt water.
Cosmo reports a total of 32.3-line kilometres of MLEM were surveyed over 3 target areas, and Minjina (8.3-line km) around 900m north of Mt Venn was first recognised as a base metal target from a review of historical drillhole 17MVRC004 drilled in 2017 which intersected 12m @ 0.8% Zn, 3.3g/t Ag and 0.16% Pb from 48m including 2m @ 2.13% Zn, 3.56g/t Ag and 0.49% Pb from 58m.
A downhole EM (DHEM) survey of 17MVRC004 and 17MVRC0019 by Cosmo in August identified a strong off-hole conductor untested by drilling, and at its shallowest the modelled plate is around 60m below surface and a drillhole proposed to test this feature is interpreted to intersect the target at around 190m downhole.
Cosmo notes Minjina represents a new target given the association of an untested, ‘high’ conductance (over 1,000S) off-hole conductor with historical base metals intersections and widespread copper anomalism in surface sampling.
The company also tested the Eastern Mafic Feeder Zone in the MLEM (21.8-line km) and says the potential feeder zones of the mineralised area is considered to have the potential to host large zones of sulphide mineralisation analogous to other copper-nickel-PGE deposits globally, and it is also associated with several target areas which the survey covered 3km to the south of ML13 towards the Ben Lomond prospect.
It also identified NE7 in the MLEM (2.2-line km) as a strong coincident gravity magnetic anomaly at Eastern Mafic.
Cosmo reports the focus of exploration at Mt Venn now turns to the Minjina target 900m north of Mt Venn with an RC rig contracted to test the prospect later this month.
This program is expected to include testing of several additional targets currently being reviewed by Cosmo’s technical team.
The company has also engaged a Perth-based resource consultancy to review the results from Cosmo’s 2022 drilling at Mt Venn with the aim to provide an initial exploration target for the project, and it is expected this will provide a robust platform for planning further work at Mt Venn as well as more advanced mining and processing studies expected to be reported late in the calendar year.
Cosmo Metals is a base metals exploration company focused on the advancement of its flagship Mt Venn, Winchester and Eastern Mafic Projects in the Yamarna Belt in Western Australia.
Images: Cosmo Metals Ltd
