Lodestar Minerals (ASX:LSR) has returned assay results from its first diamond drillhole at the Three Saints Project in Chile, confirming the project’s potential to host iron oxide copper-gold (IOCG) mineralisation.
The company reports anomalous copper, gold, cobalt, and molybdenum mineralisation from the hole, with drilling returning grades of up to 0.77% copper, 0.38 grams per tonne gold, 449 parts per million (ppm) cobalt, and 190ppm molybdenum.
Drilling identified multiple mineralisation events within the assemblage, including IOCG-style structures, metasomatic events, and late-stage veins.
The company describes the mineralisation as structurally controlled, with copper and gold intervals disseminated throughout the hole from 197m through to the 600m end-of-hole depth.
The system has demonstrated a width of more than 1.6km and remains open in all directions within the target area, both laterally and at depth.
Lodestar will use the drilling data to reprocess the geophysical magnetic survey to focus on targeting the core of mineralisation.
CEO Coraline Blaud says the company is “highly encouraged” to have observed visual mineralisation in hole L3SRD003.
“As the first drill hole completed at the Three Saints Project, it has provided a strong indication of the project’s prospectivity and the potential scale of the mineralising system,” Blaud says.
“Consistent with our visual observations, mineralisation in this hole appears to be largely structurally controlled.
“These results provide increased confidence in the exploration potential of Three Saints and support our ongoing efforts to refine the geological model.
“Our next steps will focus on reviewing and reinterpreting the available geophysical datasets against the new drillhole-derived geological information, with the objective of better defining the controls on mineralisation and targeting the core of the system for the next drilling campaign.”
Lodestar Minerals is a critical minerals, gold, and base metals explorer with projects in Chile, Western Australia, and the US.
Write to Maddison Elliott at Mining.com.au
Images: Lodestar Minerals
