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Zenith hits massive sulphides in copper and zinc hunt at Develin Creek
Mining
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Zenith Minerals has encountered early success in a new drill out of its Develin Creek copper-zinc project in Queensland, striking massive and semi-massive sulphides at its Snook prospect.
Snook is one of a cluster of targets at Develin Creek where Zenith (ASX:ZNC) believes it will be able to add to the existing Sulphide City mineral resource across the tenement package, where the rocks bear similar hallmarks of mineralisation to major base metals deposits like the Jaguar and DeGrussa mines in WA.
Snook is some 30km south of the main Sulphide City resource area, but four drill holes have returned massive and semi-massive sulphides in pyrite mineralisation in zones up to 22m thick.
Massive and semi-massive sulphides are mineralised zones with an extremely high sulphide content which could be an indicator for base metals mineralisation and, in this case, copper and zinc.
Copper and zinc contents were confirmed with portable XRF readings on site, with assays still to come.
Zenith says the mineralisation at Snook is open to the north and remains open for kilometres to the south. Ground EM surveys are planned to provide additional drill targets.
The drilling was part of a 40-hole program that will test eight priority targets across Develin Creek, four at Sulphide City, two at Snook and two at the Wilsons prospect, and include resource drilling at Sulphide City.
“VMS systems can be very high value. The results to date confirm the pervasive nature of the system at Develin Creek. We are very keen to add copper inventory to our existing resource base,” Zenith chairman Peter Bird said.
Zenith is the minority partner in the developing Earaheedy discovery in WA with Rumble Resources, meaning it is exposed to exciting developments there while remaining fully funded to explore aggressively on its own assets.
“As we have stated previously, we have an aggressive base and precious metals drill program underway within the business,” Bird said.
“A total of 12 drill rigs are active, this includes five within the Earaheedy Joint Venture Zinc discovery (EJV) where Zenith has a 25% equity position and seven rigs operating on wholly owned assets. This activity places us in a strong position for success.”
Sulphide City resource growth in the pipeline
The historic Sulphide City deposit contains an historic JORC2012 resource of 2.57Mt at 1.76% Cu, 2.01% Zn, 0.24g/t Au and 9.6g/t Ag (2.62% copper equivalent).
Results from holes drilled by Zenith to date have demonstrated the potential to add tonnes and boost the already strong grades presented within high grade zones in the resource.
The results, released to market in July, pointed towards a potential increase in copper grade within the higher-grade portions of the existing inferred mineral resource, although additional drilling is required to see if the trend continues throughout the deposit.
There could also be pockets of higher grade zinc within the resource, which weren’t identified in historic drilling campaigns.
Discrete areas within the recent drilling returned 4m at 4.7%Cu, 6.1%Zn, 1.2g/t Au and 9.8g/t Ag, and 10m at 1.8%Cu, 4.2%Zn, 0.2g/t Au and 5.4g/t Ag.
This article was developed in collaboration with Zenith Minerals, 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.
