Somerset Minerals (ASX:SMM) has commenced maiden reverse circulation (RC) drilling at its Talisker copper target within the Coppermine Project in Nunavut, Canada.
The 2,500m program will test a central 3.4km strike of the 17km Talisker anomaly, where preliminary portable X-ray fluorescence (pXRF) results from recent infill soil sampling have identified a ‘high-grade’ copper corridor.
Somerset has planned ten holes across five section lines for the program.
Talisker comprises a 17km coincident geochemical and geophysical anomaly supported by mapped copper mineralisation at surface.
The corridor sits 4km from White Cliff Minerals’ (ASX:WCN) Danvers deposit, with the Talisker fault linking into the Teshierpi Fault Zone that hosts Danvers.
“Drilling at Talisker is a potentially defining moment for Somerset — and it’s been six months in the making,” Managing Director Chris Hansen says.
“Since late last year, we’ve systematically built this target through regional geochemical and geophysical surveys, then sharpened it with infill geochemistry.
“Now, for the first time ever, a drill bit is testing the Talisker fault — a 17km corridor where geophysics, geochemistry, and copper mapped at surface all line up, just 4km from White Cliff Minerals’ Danvers deposit and on a similar regional structure.”
Building the Talisker picture
The infill soil program completed in June comprised 641 samples collected over the length of the anomaly.
Preliminary pXRF results identified the ‘high-grade’ copper corridor over the central 3.4km strike, which will be tested through five section lines.
Of the ten samples, four returned more than 1,000 parts per million (ppm) copper from Somerset’s 2025 first-pass regional till survey occurring within the corridor, including a peak value of 3,790ppm copper in till.
The company recently reinforced the prospectivity of this structural setting following White Cliff’s ‘high-grade’ copper discovery at Danvers, where drill hole DAN26012 returned 19.81m at 6.64% copper from 152.4m, including 3.05m at 17.68% copper.
Drilling will target the interpreted position of mineralised structures beneath the thin layer of glacial cover.
Drill holes have been designed with shallow dips and depths of 150–200m to test the hanging wall, footwall, and centre of the fault zone.
All samples will be analysed by field-portable X-ray fluorescence prior to dispatch to ALS Laboratories in Yellowknife for multi-element assay.
Laboratory results are expected on a rolling basis following completion of drilling, which is expected to take three to four weeks.
Somerset Minerals is a base metals and gold explorer advancing a portfolio of projects in Canada and Ecuador, anchored by the Coppermine copper project in Nunavut.
Write to JC Villarba at Mining.com.au
Images: Somerset Minerals
