Alvo’s exploration success at Palma: Discovery of high-grade copper-zinc marks first regional exploration triumph

Alvo’s diamond drilling at the C4 prospect has returned thick, high grade intersections
Results follow the discovery hole which returned 37m at 1.9% copper equivalent
High-grade intercepts of 10m @ 3.1% copper equivalent including of 4m @ 6.6% copper equivalent
A maiden resource is being prepared and is expected later this quarter

Special Report: Diamond drill results from a maiden drill program at the C4 prospect at Alvo Minerals’ high-grade Palma project has intersected high-grade zinc-copper zones.

The Palma VMS project is adjacent to Alvo Minerals’ ionic adsorption clay-hosted (IAC) rare earths Bluebush project, on the other side of the town of Palmeiropolis in Brazil.

Bluebush itself is adjacent to Serva Verde’s giant 911Mt @ 1,200ppm total rare earth oxide (TREO) IAC deposit – the only Tier 1 ionic REE project in production outside China.

Palma has been on ALV’s books for a while now, and after proving Bluebush’s ionic credentials, its zinc-copper tenure – which already has an inferred resource 4.6Mt @ 1% copper, 3.9% zinc, 0.4% lead and 20g/t silver resource – was always going to be re-focused on.

Alvo Minerals (ASX:ALV) is steaming ahead with exploration after receiving $4.1m in firm commitments from Ore Investments to progress both Palma and Bluebush.

Maiden resource around the corner at C4

First ever diamond drilling at the C4 prospect, a brownfields discovery made in August 2023, has returned thick intersections with high-grade copper zones consistent with volcanogenic massive sulphide (VMS) mineralisation.

Highlights include:

9.5m at 7.5% zinc equivalent or 3.1% copper equivalent from 167m;
- Including 3.8m @ 16.0% zinc equivalent or 6.6% copper equivalent from 168m
8.5m at 7.3% zinc equivalent or 3% copper equivalent from 211m;
- Including 3.8m @ 11.7% zinc equivalent or 4.8% copper equivalent from 215m
31.2m at 3.4% zinc equivalent or 1.4% copper equivalent from 117m; and
- Including 6.3m @ 7.9% zinc equivalent or 3.2% copper equivalent from 117m
9.8m at 5.8% zinc equivalent or 2.4% copper equivalent from 122m.

These results follow the discovery hole at C4 which returned 37m @ 4.6% zinc equivalent or 1.9% copper equivalent from 113m.

ALV says the 17-hole program for 4,351m defined multiple stacked lodes around the discovery hole and highlighted a new untested target (C4-NE), 300m northeast of C4 which the company is also progressing towards drilling.

A maiden resource is being prepared for C4 and is expected to be reported in combination with an updated resource for the C1 and C3 deposits in Q2 CY2024.

‘First major exploration success’

ALV MD Rob Smakman says the drill results at the C4 prospect is the first major regional exploration success on the Palma VMS Belt.

“Our exploration team has focused on the broad zone of mineralisation around the C4 discovery hole, where we confirmed the thickest intercept across the entire Palma VMS project,” Smakman says.

“These results have defined multiple stacked lodes including high-grade zones and support our intention to deliver a maiden resource for this prospect in the coming months in combination with an updated MRE for the C1 and C3 deposits.

“We are also extremely pleased to have uncovered the potential of the C4-NE Prospect, located just 300m from the C4 Prospect.

“This is testament to the methodical multi-disciplinary approach of our exploration team on site at Palma, with a combination of mapping, geochemistry and geophysics coming together to advance the target to drill-ready status.”

This article was developed in collaboration with Alvo Minerals, a Stockhead advertiser at the time of publishing.

This article does not constitute financial product advice. You should consider obtaining independent advice before making any financial decisions.