Excitement builds as RareX partner preps Lachlan Fold Belt drilling
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Special Report: RareX (ASX:REE) could soon benefit from its free-carried interest in five copper-gold projects in the exciting Lachlan Fold Belt.
The company recently ‘farmed out’ a 65 per cent interest in the Trundle, Cundumbul, Condobolin, Fairholme and Jemalong to Canada’s Kincora Copper for an upfront payment of about $200,000, shares representing a 9.9 per cent stake in Kincora and a 35 per cent free carried interest in the projects.
RareX says Kincora is poised to kick off a 3,800m deep drill program at the brownfields (previously explored) Trundle project within the same system as the major Northparkes copper-gold project.
“We are extremely excited by the funded drilling program and targets that have been generated by Kincora as part of the JV,” executive director Jeremy Robinson commented.
“Kincora’s team have made multiple world-class discoveries, including Cadia in this belt, and at Trundle are testing three known mineralised targets that are the only in a brownfield environment held by a junior in the prolific Lachlan Fold Belt.”
READ: The Lachlan Fold Belt is shaping up to be elephant country and its only just beginning
Trundle was previously held by Newcrest and HPX but remains largely untested with just 11 historic holes, or 0.5 per cent of holes drilled, going below 300m.
Nonetheless, previous drilling had returned results of 60m at 0.54 grams per tonne (g/t) gold from 1m, as well as 56m at 0.88g/t gold and 0.35 per cent copper from 34m including 2m at 20g/t gold and 6.97 per cent copper from 64m.
Using data from the Typhoon induced polarisation survey and new magnetic analysis, the Robert Friedland co-chaired HPX had identified 23 coincident geophysical and geological targets and tested one before the 2015-16 downturn.
These exploration techniques were recently validated by Alkane Resources’ (ASX:ALK) Boda discovery.
Kincora’s review of the Trundle project has highlighted the potential for the discovery of high-grade porphyry and skarn-style copper-gold mineralisation.
RareX noted that the review of the Trundle Park prospect supports the view that shallow drilling has intersected mineralised skarns within a lower grade system.
No drilling has tested below these mineralised holes where geophysics and relogging of previous drilling has indicated proximity to a porphyry source.
Kincora will explore for targets similar to the Boda discovery and Northparkes-style finger porphyries along with the Ridgeway porphyry target and Big Cadia skarn that is peripheral to the giant Cadia porphyry copper-gold deposits.