Kincora Copper (ASX:KCC) is preparing for its next phase of exploration in the Northern Junee-Narromine Belt (NJNB) after seeing the early results of first drilling at its Nyngan and Nevertire projects in New South Wales.
Technical Committee Chair John Holliday said drilling at the Nevertire South Project has intersected a large, multi-phase Macquarie Arc volcanic and intrusive complex.
“While early days in our first drilling program at the Nevertire South Project … we are in what looks to be a very large, mineralised and very prospective system with the right geological signs,” he says.
This is the first drilling undertaken since Kincora consolidated the tenement ownership, which provided the company with over 8km of untested strike.
The Nyngan, Nevertire South and Nevertire projects are included in two earn-in and joint ventures with AngloGold Ashanti (NYSE:AU), which can earn a majority stake in five projects in Kincora’s NJNB portfolio by spending up to $100 million.
The ongoing seven-hole, 2,150m program at Nevertire and Nevertire South includes both large-scale step out and scout targets designed to discover or create a vectoring pattern to a targeted porphyry deposit.
Drilling was designed to effectively test part of the over 8km northern strike based on prior positive drill results reported by Newcrest Mining, which was taken over by Newmont (NYSE:NEM) in 2023.
Two of the Newcrest holes were drilled about 2.7km apart and identified lithologies, alteration and veining consistent with a setting similar to the Cadia-Ridgeway and Goonumbla porphyry copper-gold deposits.
Kincora says initial observations reaffirm its belief that the Nevertire Magmatic Complex is the most advanced and geologically prospective porphyry project in the covered extensions of the Macquarie Arc.
“We have already seen enough to be planning near-term geophysical programs to help guide and refine a high-priority next phase of drilling,” Holliday says.
Kincora completed the drilling of three step out holes from the south, about 600m to 1.2km away from the Newcrest holes, and is now drilling towards the north.
Meanwhile, drilling at the Nyngan Project has been completed and identified multiple Macquarie Arc composite volcano-intrusive complexes.
Holliday says several new mineralised multi-phase volcano-intrusive complexes were intersected at shallow depths, significantly expanding the near-term search space, particularly across the wider Gerar target area.
“The first phase of scout drilling at the Nyngan project was particularly successful at testing new targets that emerged from the gravity survey only undertaken in the first quarter this year,” he says.
In early June, Kincora and AngloGold revealed they would be expanding the drilling program at Nyngan to include an additional four holes, after having already completed 15 holes.
“Follow-up exploration is planned and will be refined upon receipt of all pending drilling results,” Holliday says.
The company is now preparing to undertake further scout drilling and/or a stage-two step-out phase.
Kincora is managing the drilling programs and receives a 10% management fee.
The junior explorer, which has a market capitalisation of $17.5 million, is also advancing talks with additional potential partners for its wholly owned Trundle, Fairholme and Jemalong projects.
Write to Angela East at Mining.com.au
Images: Kincora Copper
