West Cobar Metals (ASX:WC1) has begun the first subsurface test of its Blind Freddie Prospect with an aircore drilling program west of Cobar in New South Wales.
The company plans to drill up to 1,000m at the wholly owned prospect, located about 50km west of Cobar within its Cobar West Project.
Drilling will test elevated copper readings found through rock-chip and surface gravel sampling within Winduck Group siltstones and sandstones. The target forms part of a zone of elevated copper readings extending for more than 2.5km, with gold also detected across the broader prospect.
Blind Freddie sits immediately west of a strong gravity anomaly, where survey readings point to denser rocks below the surface.
Managing Director Matt Szwedzicki says drilling will test whether the surface copper results, mapped geological structures, and gravity anomaly point to mineralisation underground.
“The initial air-core drilling program at Blind Freddie will provide the first subsurface test of a compelling greenfields target defined by coincident surface geochemistry, interpreted structures and gravity data,” Szwedzicki says.
West Cobar holds approximately 1,091km² covering around 120km of rock formations considered prospective for Cobar-style mineralisation. The company says the area contains several copper targets hidden beneath cover that have similar geological and survey signatures to the CSA Mine and Hera deposit.
Its Cobar West portfolio also includes the Bulla Park copper–antimony–silver deposit, which has an inferred mineral resource of 20 million tonnes @ 0.58% copper equivalent (CuEq). This comprises 0.30% Cu, 0.10% antimony, and 4.7 grams per tonne silver.
Bulla Park was discovered beneath 60–120m of unmineralised cover and showed little indication at the surface. West Cobar believes its prominent gravity anomaly reflects dense, altered rock associated with mineralisation, illustrating how gravity data can help locate targets hidden underground.
The company expects to complete drilling at Blind Freddie within two weeks, with assays to follow.
Write to France Pinzon at Mining.com.au
Images: West Cobar Metals
