Silver City continues hunt for deep high-grade copper and gold at Copper Blow

Silver City Minerals has started a second round of drilling at its Copper Blow project to test for deeper extensions to the high-grade copper and gold mineralisation it previously uncovered.

The company (ASX:SCI) will drill 850 metres across three diamond holes to test the extent and continuity of mineralisation down dip and down plunge of existing copper and gold intersections.

Previous drilling delivered initial results that provided the company with several “high quality” follow-up targets.

Broken Hill is traditionally known for silver, lead and zinc – but investigations by Silver City show this western NSW mining district also contains an abundance of copper and gold.

In September, Silver City announced initial drilling results at Copper Blow, about 20km south of Broken Hill.

The drilling was designed to assess lateral and downdip extensions to a number of high grade copper and gold intersections drilled by BHP and Shell in the late 1980s and early 1990s.

Historic drill intersections included 11.8 metres at 6.7 per cent copper and 1.92 grams of gold per tonne and 19.8 metres at 1.8 per cent copper, including 3 metres at 4.6 per cent copper.

Silver City encountered similarly encouraging grades and confirmed a steep South West plunge to mineralisation.

The best intersection so far was 4 metres at 6.1 per cent copper and 4.2 grams of gold, including 1 metre at 11.3 per cent copper and 10.7 grams of gold.

Copper Blow is considered analogous in style to the copper and gold deposits of the Mt Isa district, where for example the large underground Ernest Henry mine operates at a grade of around 1 per cent copper and 0.5 grams gold.

Significant cobalt-rich intersections include 5.2 metres at 0.14 per cent and 0.75 metres at 0.29 per cent.

Extensions of these shoots both north and south of the central fault, provide excellent drilling targets, says Silver City managing director Chris Torrey.

Very high-grade copper and gold

Silver City’s exploration program at its flagship Copper Blow project in Broken Hill continues to impress.

“The latest intersections contain very high-grade copper and gold over potentially mineable thicknesses,” Mr Torrey says.

“As they say, ‘grade is king’ so this provides a sharp focus for our future work. Defining a resource — especially a high-grade resource — is we where we are focused.”

The size of the mineralised host rock system that Silver City has identified is particularly impressive.

The system – which is at least 6km long — has been defined by a linear magnetic anomaly and high copper numbers in geochemical drilling.

At Copper Blow, drilling is targeting a 750-metre zone of near-surface copper and gold mineralisation. The work has intersected a highly altered zone more than 100 metres wide, hosting multiple sulphide lenses containing high-grade copper and gold mineralisation.

This is a size that can host a major deposit.

The current drilling program will take around three to four weeks, with initial results expected from late January to early February.

Silver City will also undertake a more extensive follow-up program to continue to test down-plunge extensions and conduct preliminary drilling of new geophysical and geochemical targets to the North East.

Metallurgical evaluation

Samples have recently been despatched for preliminary evaluation.

Of particular interest will be the metallurgical results for cobalt from samples of high grade copper and gold and those devoid of copper but high in cobalt.

Results are also expected between late January and early February.

This special report is brought to you by Silver City Minerals.

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