CuFe is enjoying a very welcome 16% increase in contained copper resources at the Orlando deposit within its Tennant Creek project in the Northern Territory.

The Orlando resource increased to 2.88 million tonnes grading 1.3% copper and 1.4 grams per tonne (g/t) gold, or contained resources of 36,500t of copper and 130,400oz of gold, on the back of 2022 resource drilling while the overall Tennant Creek resource now stands at 7.29Mt at 1.7% copper and 0.6g/t gold.

Potentially of greater interest to the CuFe Limited (ASX:CUF) is that the majority of the Orlando resource (29,200t of copper and 99,000oz of gold) is contained within the higher confidence Indicated category, which also provides improved assurance about its resource model.

“This 2022 drill program and subsequent resource upgrade has added copper metal tonnes and volume to the Orlando Deposit that are spatially favourable and add value by reducing the strip ratio to any open pit cut back development of the existing deposit,” executive director Mark Hancock said.

“The upgrade has increased the amount of indicated material which is increasing our confidence in both the deposit and development options, with those being assessed including trucking of ore for processing at an existing processing facility and development of a stand-alone processing solution.

“In addition to reviewing the development options we are also currently evaluating our field work plans for the winter season with an aim of exploring the high prospectivity within these tenements for additional copper and gold resources, proximal to the known deposits.”

Orlando deposit

The Orlando deposit within Mining Lease 29919 – held by CuFe (60%) and Gecko Mining Company (40%) – was previously mined by both open cut and underground methods.

Gold and copper mineralisation at the deposit is hosted in east-west trending lenses controlled by two shear zones, which strike east-southeast.

This mineralisation is associated with elevated concentrations of arsenic, cobalt and bismuth while the main copper mineral is chalcopyrite, which has been oxidised to a number of secondary copper minerals, including malachite, chalcocite and covellite within the weathered horizon.

Geological logging of the oxidation indicates that the rocks are oxidised to depths of up to 120 m.

The mineralisation has been tested by both reverse circulation and diamond core drilling by previous owners.

 

 

 

This article was developed in collaboration with CuFe Limited (ASX:CUF), 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.

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