Gold Mountain targets massive system of copper-gold porphyries

Special Report: Copper-gold explorer Gold Mountain has announced plans to initiate a targeted deep hole drilling campaign to unlock a potential porphyry system, with drilling set to start next month following easing of COVID-19 mining restrictions in PNG.  Also, last month the company was granted the Mt Wipi tenement which was previously held under an exploration permit by BHP.

Gold Mountain Limited (ASX:GMN), a copper-gold explorer, has just announced plans to recommence drilling at its flagship Wabag project, kicking off in October.

This follows an easing of restrictions in PNG, relating to COVID-19, allowing the company to reignite its drilling program after a six-month delay.

In the interim, the company has reviewed and re-evaluated all drilling data at its Monoyal prospect at Wabag, with the assistance of its recently appointed porphyry expert, Phil Jones.

Jones, who has been a consultant exploration geologist at established copper miner Sandfire Resources (ASX:SFR) for the past seven years, has more than 35 years’ experience in the industry.

Most notably, he has brought a wealth of porphyry system expertise to GMN from his involvement with the re-evaluation of the E48 copper deposit at North Parkes in NSW, which doubled in size thanks to Jones’ re-evaluation of the ore body through deep hole drilling.

After the initial drilling of four holes at Monoyal turned up evidence of a potentially large copper system, with long intercepts of mineralisation beginning close to surface, the upcoming drilling campaign will involve a 2,800m program of targeted deep drilling at the prospect to test the deeper parts of the mineralised porphyry system.

The rationale of the revised campaign is that the tenor of copper mineralisation increases at depth, and GMN is aiming to intersect the high-grade potassic core of the system.

“After reviewing the data from GMN’s first seven holes, I am confident that exploration has identified a large copper/molybdenum tonalite porphyry system,” Jones said.

“Additional drilling is required to test for potential high-grade mineralisation at depth given that trace element geochemistry suggests that the current drilling appears to be in the upper portions of the porphyry system.”

The campaign will involve a two-stage drilling program, the first of which will involve an initial two holes with a target depth of between 700 and 750m designed to ensure deeper parts of the porphyry system are tested.

The further two holes, making up the rest of the 2,800m program, are planned for the Monoyal area after petrological and geochemical vectoring work has been completed.

 In addition to the revised campaign, GMN also announced last month that a new tenement in the highly prospective PNG Mobile Belt, Mt Wipi, had been granted.

Mt Wipi, which is 100 per cent owned by GMN, was given the green light following successful hearings with PNG’s Mining Resource Authority, which expressed confidence in GMN to commence exploration activities.

Mt Wipi is located northwest of Gold Mountain’s Sak Creek and Monoyal targets and is believed to have potential to host copper-gold porphyry style mineralisation.

“The grant of the new tenement gives GMN confidence to continue exploring and investing in the company’s flagship Wabag project in PNG,” CEO Tim Cameron said.

“The newly granted Mt Wipi tenement is an integral part of GMN’s exploration strategy, as we believe that it lies along the same major structure that is responsible for the mineralisation the company has identified at Monoyal and at Sak Creek.”

While GMN remains focused on unlocking its porphyry prospect at Monoyal, the company has also initiated exploration at Mt Wipi, following receipt of airborne magnetic data that covers the tenement to identify potential targets for exploration.

This article was developed in collaboration with Gold Mountain Limited, 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.