Duke has more than doubled the copper and silver mineralised area at its Mt Flora project. Pic: Getty Images
Duke doubles copper, silver mineralised area at Mt Flora
Mining
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There appears to be far more copper and silver at Duke’s Mt Flora with the initial assays from the ongoing resource drilling more than doubling the mineralised area.
Notably, assay results from the first completed line of drilling has also confirmed the company’s initial interpretation based on historical data.
Significant results are 6m grading 1.39 per cent copper, 29.4 grams per tonne (g/t) silver and 0.03g/t gold from a depth of 51m at the Mt Flora underground mine lode, 3m at 2.71 per cent copper, 11.9g/t silver and 0.32g/t gold from 100m and 8m at 2.99 per cent copper, 69g/t silver and 0.24g/t gold from 61m.
Duke Exploration (ASX:DEX) noted 73 intersections of copper, silver and gold mineralisation above the 0.2 per cent copper cut-off to date that will contribute to the maiden resource estimate.
It added that mineralisation is consistent in width, copper grade and orientation between drill holes, which is likely to increase the confidence in future resource estimates and mining studies.
To top it off, the mineralised area at Mt Flora is now 500m wide when the Quarry mineralisation and western mineralised veins are included, up from the original interpretation of a 100m wide zone.
Chairman Toko Kapea said the company was very happy with the results from the first line of resource drilling at Mt Flora, particularly given that the newly discovered Quarry mineralisation returned the highest grades of copper, silver and gold intersected to date.
“The next phase of resource drilling, which has been planned, will start immediately after the first phase of drilling is completed with a focus on the Quarry mineralisation,” he added.
Kapea also expressed confidence that Duke will meet its Mt Flora exploration target of between 5.5Mt and 12Mt grading 0.5 per cent to 0.7 per cent copper, 5g/t to 15g/t silver and 0.1g/t gold.
“The amount of silver and gold associated with the copper mineralisation at Mt Flora also gives us exposure to these valuable metals, which if similar results are confirmed in the next phase of drilling should add significant value for shareholders,” he explained.
“Mining and processing studies will start as soon as the scale of the copper, silver and gold resource is defined at Mt Flora.”
Resource drilling and upcoming work
To date, the company has completed 34 holes totalling 6,271m from its budget of 43 holes totalling 7,040m for the first phase resource drilling program at Mt Flora.
Three lines of holes have been completed over the known mineralised area covering a strike of 200m, a width of 250m and to a vertical depth of 280m on a 60m by 60m drill spacing, which will allow an inferred resource to be estimated once two additional lines are completed to the south and one to the north.
Duke plans to complete the phase one drilling, which will include three holes to test the conductive anomaly to the north of the Mt Flora historical underground workings.
It will then start the next phase of infill drilling guided by results from the first phase drilling and pattern drilling at the Quarry anomaly focusing on the higher-grade northern strike extension.
Other work includes completing follow-up geophysics at Quorn to allow drill planning; extend gradient array and soil sampling to cover areas from the Quorn surveys that are open; and complete gradient array and soil surveys over the Isens Underground mine area with the goal of starting drilling in the second quarter.
This article was developed in collaboration with Duke Exploration, 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.
