Base Metals: Todd River shares rise on striking broad zones of base metals in the NT

Todd River Resources’ (ASX:TRT) reconnaissance drilling program at its Mt Hardy copper-zinc project in the Northern Territory has returned thick zones of shallow base metal mineralisation.

Drilling at the Hendrix South prospect, which is south of the 2.6-million-tonne at 10.5 per cent zinc equivalent Hendrix resource, returned a 28m intersection grading 0.2 per cent copper, 0.6 per cent lead, 2.4 per cent zinc and 12 grams per tonne (g/t) silver, or about 3.2 per cent combined base metals, from a depth of 82m.

This includes a higher grade zone of 5m at 0.24 per cent copper, 1.8 per cent lead, 4.3 per cent zinc and 28.4g/t silver (6.3 per cent base metals) from 93m.

Additionally, the first three holes at the Gilly prospect about 1.3km north of Hendrix intersected mineralisation, with a top result of 11m at 0.4 per cent copper, 0.5 per cent lead, 2.3 per cent zinc and 41g/t silver (3.2 per cent combined base metals) from a depth of 28m.

“The assays received from our first foray into regional reconnaissance drilling at Mt Hardy are very impressive considering that this is the very first drilling into each of these prospects,” managing director Will Dix said.

Results are pending from drilling at the Hendrix North West, Laver and Linda Jane prospects along with down-hole electromagnetic surveying of the deepest hole at each prospect.

Todd River was up as much as 9.7 per cent this morning to 3.4c.

St George Mining (ASX:SGQ) is laying the groundwork for the next round of exploration drilling for more nickel-copper sulphides at its Mt Alexander project in the northeastern Goldfields region of Western Australia.

A comprehensive soil survey over the Fish Hook prospect has identified a large geochemical anomaly that is consistent with the interpreted surface position of the southern ultramafic unit.

Importantly, this unit is interpreted to be located along the eastern extension of the mineralised trend that hosts the currently known nickel-copper sulphide deposits of the Cathedrals Belt.

This neatly sidesteps the lack of any outcropping ultramafic rocks that would otherwise be used to target initial exploration for nickel-copper sulphide mineralisation.

The company will now complete an electromagnetic survey over prospective areas of the Fish Hook prospect to search for any conductors that may represent nickel-copper sulphides.

St George is also designing the first ever seismic survey at the Cathedrals Belt to map the structure through which the mafic-ultramafic intrusions hosting the nickel-copper suphides have passed upwards from the Earth’s mantle and to detect any significant mineralisation at depth within these structures.

Shares in the company were up 3.3 per cent to 15.5c this morning.

In other ASX base metals news:

Dreadnought Resources (ASX:DRE) has intersected multiple zones of mineralisation within the second hole at the Grants copper-gold target at its Tarraji-Yampi project in the West Kimberley region, Western Australia. Assays from the hole, which is co-funded by the state government’s Exploration Incentive Scheme, are expected in December.