Kincora Copper (ASX:KCC) is spinning the drill bit at three projects, with its partners funding up to 11,000m to test 13 copper-gold porphyry targets before the year is out.
Drilling is now underway at the Nyngan Project in New South Wales, where AngloGold Ashanti (NYSE:AU) is funding exploration to earn up to an 80% interest.
This is the first drilling program in partnership with AngloGold, which signed on as Kincora’s partner in May, and will comprise 4,000m to 5,000m of drilling across six to eight holes.
The program is testing the “district-scale potential”, with initially up to eight “large” intrusive complex targets to be drill tested for the first time, including one existing high-priority target covered by ambient noise tomography and gravity geophysical surveys undertaken by Fleet Space Technologies.
This follows recent news by neighbouring Canadian copper explorer Inflection Resources (CSE:AUCU) of the best hole so far at its flagship Duck Creek Project, right near the licence boundary of the Nyngan Project.
One drill hole at Duck Creek intersected “encouraging” hydrothermal alteration and sulphide mineralisation, including the “most intense alteration of all holes” completed across Inflection’s entire New South Wales portfolio, which covers over 7000km2.
Meanwhile, a second-phase, step-out diamond drilling program is underway at the Cundumbal Project in New South Wales by exploration alliance partner Earth AI.
Earth AI partners with explorers and development companies to help prove up a major discovery in a shorter timeframe by using its vertically integrated, proprietary AI and machine learning capabilities to generate, fund, and drill test targets.
This latest drilling program of 3,000m across up to five holes will test three targets.
Earth AI has agreed to spend up to $4.5 million on exploration within a two-year period to earn a 3% royalty following a new discovery.
Over in Mongolia, Woomera Mining (ASX:WML) has now started drilling at Kincora’s Bronze Fox Project.
Woomera will drill 2,250m to 3,250m of diamond core to test the potential for a shallower higher-grade structural zone, expand the resource and support an application for a second mining licence for the entire Bronze Fox Project.
The project, which is partly covered by a 30-year mining licence, hosts a maiden inferred resource of 426,000 tonnes of copper and 437,000 ounces of gold down to a depth of 325m.
Kincora also previously outlined an updated exploration target of 100-300 million tonnes @ 0.25-0.35% copper equivalent.
Drilling will include a 900m deep hole stepping out to test the up dip and higher-grade potential within an interpreted structural corridor to previous hole F62, which returned 929m @ 0.37% copper equivalent, including 318m @ 0.53% and 37m @ 1.01%.
Kincora is also in talks with potential technical and funding partners following a review of its new wholly owned Nevertire South Project that has confirmed “standout priority drill targets”.
In early September, the junior explorer was granted three exploration licences covering 1,377km2, doubling its position in the Northern Junee-Narromine Belt and consolidating the immediate extensions of the Nyngan and Nevertire projects.
The Northern Junee-Narromine Belt is one of the two major volcanic belts of the Macquarie Arc, part of the mineral-rich Lachlan Fold Belt.
CEO Sam Spring says the recent review of the new Nevertire South Project has been extremely positive supporting what Kincora believes is the most attractive geologically supported target in the covered extensions of the Macquarie Arc.
“Other comparable earlier stage and higher risk projects have recently attracted five partner deals and potentially over $300 million in exploration expenditure,” Spring says.
Kincora says previous explorer drilling on the Nevertire South Project, which covers 962km2, has returned anomalous copper-gold mineralisation, favourable fertility, geochemical zonation, and alteration confirming a copper-gold porphyry system setting with age dates indicating a prospective phase-four Macquarie Arc intrusive complex.
Kincora has recently secured three prior Newcrest drill holes from the Cadia mine site for Nevertire South, with relogging undertaken by Technical Director John Holliday, who led the Newcrest team that originally discovered Cadia.
The company believes its review of these holes supports Newcrest’s previous view that limited drilling “has identified lithologies, alteration and veining consistent with a setting similar to the Cadia-Ridgeway and Goonumbla porphyry copper-gold deposits”.
Subsequent age dates have confirmed an setting analogous to the Cadia and Northparkes/Goonumbla deposits.
Kincora says the best of the three holes was not followed up despite a “very encouraging” intersection of anomalous copper mineralisation (from basement to end of hole), veining and magnetite alteration situated in a “highly prospective high volcanic-hosted level”.
Spring says Kincora continues to seek to work with existing and new technical and funding partners to systematically advance and de-risk its pipeline of porphyry targets.
“We are not finished. More deals, partnerships and projects with a clear value path are proposed,” he says.
Kincora has so far brought on four partners, which Spring says unlocks up to $60 million of multi-year funding.
Write to Angela East at Mining.com.au
Images: Kincora Copper
