Norfolk Metals beefs up drilling at Carmen copper project in Chile

• Norfolk adds two holes at Higueritas Belt expansion area to ongoing RC drilling at Carmen copper project
• RC drilling will also include previously planned DDH collars to be drilled within the RC phase
• Company re-testing 2006 cores for gold that were never previously analysed for the metal

Special Report: Norfolk Metals has expanded its ongoing reverse circulation drilling at the Carmen copper project in Chile with the inclusion of previously planned diamond collars and two holes targeting the Higueritas Belt expansion area.

The 30th of up to 50 planned holes is currently underway with the RC program phase expected to conclude with 34 holes and the remaining 16 holes to be diamond holes.

RC drilling is now concentrating on confirming historical holes along the Tabaco Thrust to validate higher-grade historical intercepts.

At the Higueritas Belt, access and reconnaissance mapping has allowed Norfolk Metals (ASX:NFL) to identify areas exhibiting visible copper oxide outcrops that are spatially associated with structures and coincident with a strong IP chargeability anomaly.

Surface sampling of the observed oxide mineralisation has been conducted and sent for analysis with two RC holes planned for immediate drilling.

The company has also selected several diamond holes drilled in 2006 to be quarter cut for re-assaying to confirm historical intersections for copper and gold.

Intersections inside the current non-JORC NI 43-101 resource include 31m at 1.21% copper from a down-hole depth of 24m (TAB 26) while high-grade sulphide intervals below the resource include 26m at 1.58% copper from 29m (TAB 23).

“The RC drilling phase is edging towards completion with the inclusion of previously planned DDH collars to be drilled within the RC phase,” executive chairman Ben Phillips said.

“These new RC collars include important confirmatory drilling.

“The re-analysis of historical high-grade intercept diamond core, including gold analysis, has also commenced. The historical drill core selected for re-analysis had no previous gold analysis work conducted, so we look to add potential value to the Carmen Project.

He added that despite the limited historical exploration, the Higueritas Belt is somewhat of a sleeping giant as it displays many analogous signatures to Carmen Main and the Carmen-Tabaco Fault, including oxide mineralisation at surface with several outcrops and old copper mining workings.

Drill program

Several planned drill collars from the diamond drilling have been brought forward into the RC phase of drilling to expedite the confirmatory drilling of historical high-grade intercepts.

This phase of drilling will also include the two holes testing the project expansion area of the Higueritas Belt.

NFL notes the drilling on the western side of Section 10,000NE is aimed at validating historical drilling and to test the higher-grade zone located on the hanging wall of the Tabaco Thrust.

This area represents the highest Cu grade distribution observed in Carmen Main and possibly relates to the structural dilational jogs along the Tabaco Thrust.

The Higueritas Belt is 7.5km long with widths ranging from 0.5km to 1km and is sub-parallel to the Carmen-Tabaco Belt.

Initial access and prospecting in the northern part of the Higueritas Belt has resulted in the identification of several old copper working.

These appear to be associated with northeast-southwest and north-south striking structures about 2.5km southeast of the Carmen Main area and constrained by two northwest to north-northwest striking district faults.

Higueritas also has four distinct IP anomalies from 0.5-1.5km in strike length and totalling 5km of strike along the belt.

Mapping and geochemical soil sampling will be carried out to define drill targets for subsequent drilling campaigns.

All RC assays will be released once the complete dataset has been received, interpreted, presented on map and section with relevant JORC reporting requirements later this quarter.

With drilling expanding and assays pending, Norfolk Metals is positioning Carmen for a strong finish to the year.

This article was developed in collaboration with Norfolk Metals, 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.