Special Report: Gold Mountain has lauded its multiple target strategy at the Wabag gold project in Papua New Guinea on the back of significant results from the Mt Wipi prospect.

Initial exploration work carried out by Gold Mountain (ASX:GMN) has identified mineralised intrusives and skarns at Mt Wipi, highlighting the exploration potential for a large mineralised system.

Gold Mountain Porphyry expert Phil Jones said the results from Mt Wipi, which was previously held under an exploration permit by BHP, were an exciting development.

“initial reconnaissance surveys on the recently granted Mt Wipi tenement have provided exciting and widespread (>3km long x 1km width) copper-gold results from the Mt Wipi Prospect,” he said.

“High-grade rock chip samples (9.64% copper, 1.96 g/t gold and 100 g/t silver) and channel samples (including 5m @ 2.57% Cu, 0.53 g/t Au and 33.56 g/t Ag) in conjunction with anomalous stream sediment samples and mapping, have defined intrusives and skarns which highlight the strong exploration potential at Mt Wipi for the location of a large mineralised system.”

Gold Mountain is exploring for large porphyry copper-gold deposits in the Papuan Mobile Belt in PNG, these deposits are typically referred to as elephants due to their massive size and huge value.  The neighbouring elephants in the belt include the world-class Ok-Tedi and Grasberg mines just to name a few.

Results from Mt Wipi

Reconnaissance rock chip sampling within a 3km by 1km area has returned results up to 9.64 per cent copper, 1.96 grams per tonne gold and 100 grams per tonne silver.

Gold Mountain Wabag
Outcrop Sample: 9.17% Cu, 1.03 g/t Au and 84.6 g/t Ag. Pic: Supplied.

Results from channel samples taken along the banks of the Waa Creek within the EL2632 tenement indicated that there are multiple three-to-seven metre wide “veins or structures” containing highly anomalous copper, gold and silver mineralisation.

The channel samples returned results up to 4.77% for copper, 3.64 g/t for gold and 56.40 g/t for silver.

Stream sediment and rock chip sampling at Mt Wipi also highlighted a significant area of copper, gold and silver anomalism associated with a northwest structure within a northeast trending structural corridor and magnetic low feature.

Geological mapping showed this structure to be associated with an intrusive.

Further boosting the excitement at Mt Wipi were petrology results which showed pervasive potassic alteration and copper mineralisation of an intrusive and strong skarn alteration, as well as association copper-gold-silver mineralisation along structurally modified intrusive contacts.

Gold Mountain Mt Wipi
Gold Mountain’s Wabag project area.

Exploration activities at Mt Wipi resumed in mid-January.

More from Monoyal

Meanwhile, GMN struck altered and mineralised tonalite in the first hole drilled in its latest program at the highly promising Monoyal prospect in Wabag.

The hole was drilled as part of the phase two program at Monoyal in December, reaching a depth of 684.2m and intersecting tonalite.

Tonalite is a rock which Gold Mountain’s Jones has previously identified as a potential host for a large copper-molybdenum porphyry body at Monoyal.

Assay results are pending for the hole, which was designed to test the down dip extensions of anomalous copper and molybdenum mineralisation intersected in holes drilled last year.

The zones tested were around 200m beneath those intersected in drill holes MCD003 and MCD004 – reported in February 2020.

MCD003 returned anomalous copper mineralisation averaging 850 parts per million over a large interval of about 500m from surface, including an intercept of 101m at 0.14% from 398m.

MCD004 returned intercepts including 124m at 0.12% copper, 105 parts per million molybdenum and 0.06 grams per tonne gold from 125m.

Mineralisation in both holes was hosted in fractured tonalite.

Core from the latest hole – MCD008 – has been logged, photographed and sampled, and sent to the lab for analysis. Results are due late in January.

Justification for multi-target approach

Gold Mountain CEO Tim Cameron said the company was proud of its progress at both targets as it entered the new year.

“I am very encouraged to see the initial copper and gold results coming out of Mt Wipi,” he said.

“These results combined with the positive petrological analysis gives me confidence that GMN is exploring highly prospective ground in PNG and that we are working towards a significant discovery in 2021.

“I am particularly happy to see that two styles of mineralisation have been observed in Waa Creek at Mt Wipi, and the fact that we have a mineralised intrusive and skarn style mineralisation in close proximity to each other in the same drainage, points to the fact that we may find something substantial within EL2632 in 2021.

“I am also very pleased that we have completed another hole at Monoyal which was drilled into our copper – moly porphyry target.

“The results that we have seen to date affirm Gold Mountain’s multiple target strategy, where we plan to systematically progress exploration on our current three targets over the next few years and also identify additional targets at Wabag to support further development into the future.”

Gold Mountain Wabag
Wabag’s Mt Wipi prospect. Pic: Supplied.

 

This article was developed in collaboration with Gold Mountain, 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.