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Base metals: PolarX drilling strikes visible copper, molybdenum at Mars
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PolarX’s (ASX:PXX) first exploration hole at its not quite offworld Mars prospect within the Alaska Range project has struck porphyry‐style veins with visible iron, copper and molybdenum sulphides close to the surface.
Assays are now being carried out to determine if the anomalous gold recorded during soil sampling is also present in the hole.
“Visual confirmation of porphyry‐style veins containing chalcopyrite and molybdenite in the first hole at Mars is extremely encouraging,” managing director Frazer Tabeart said.
“Given the large size of the co‐incident copper‐gold‐molybdenum geochemical anomaly and the geophysical anomalies at Mars, this has the potential to be a very large mineralised system and clearly warrants considerable follow‐up drilling.”
Drilling at the extensive Saturn anomaly has also uncovered evidence of an underlying porphyry source.
The company has completed five holes in a campaign of up to 10 holes that is designed to provide a clearer picture of Saturn’s true potential.
Success here could trigger a farm-in from North American major Lundin Mining Corporation that includes US$24m in exploration and US$20m in staged cash payments to PolarX.
Alaska Range also hosts the Zackly Claims deposit that already has a resource of 44,000 tonnes of contained copper and 217,000 ounces of gold. This deposit is excluded from the Lundin Mining agreement, meaning it remains 100 per cent owned by PolarX.
Read more: New drilling program offers big potential for PolarX shareholders, says analyst’s report
Rumble Resources (ASX:RTR) has also enjoyed some success on the drilling front with the company intersecting two zones of sulphide mineralisation in the first hole drilled to test the Panache Gabbro intrusion at its Panache project in Canada.
Earlier grab samples taken from exposed mineralised gossans at the intrusion, which are up to 10m wide and 950m long, had returned up to 1.6 per cent copper, 0.49 per cent nickel, 1.1 per cent cobalt and 1.64 grams per tonne gold.
Panache is located within the Sudbury mining district that has accounted for over 25 per cent of the world’s total nickel production since 1883.
Read more: Barry FitzGerald: Whichever way you turn, someone’s getting ready for Rumble
Over in Serbia, Raiden Resources’ (ASX:RDN) scout drilling program that was carried out in joint venture with mining giant Rio Tinto (ASX:RIO) has returned elevated copper and gold values that may be associated with a blind porphyry or epithermal system.
The company will carry out further geophysical work to guide a possible second round of drilling at the Leskovo South prospect of its Majdanpek West project.
Dreadnought Resources (ASX:DRE) has started drilling at its Tarraji-Yampi nickel-copper-gold project in the West Kimberley region of Western Australia.
The company will drill two holes at the Chianti volcanogenic massive sulphide target before drilling up to six holes at the Grants copper-gold target.
Read more: Dreadnought shoots for nickel and copper at pre-World War I mine in the West Kimberley
