Cooper Metals Ltd (ASX:CPM) has established a strong foundation to grow the copper bounty at the Mount Isa East Copper-Gold Project in northwest Queensland.
Recently, a number of new prospects, including Brumby Ridge, Raven and Mafic Sweats South, have provided further signs of the project’s discovery potential.
Brumby Ridge has emerged as a shining light after RC drilling in the December quarter of 2023 produced bonanza-grade copper.
High-grade copper
One reverse circulation (RC) drill hole, 23MERC028, returned 71 metres at 2.8% copper and 0.05 g/t gold from 115 metres to the end of hole, including 24 metres at 5.4% copper and 0.10 g/t gold from 115 metres.
Another, 23MERC024, returned 50 metres at 1.32% copper and 0.05 g/t gold from 80 metres including 2 metres at 6.1% copper and 0.23 g/t gold.
Mineralisation at Brumby Ridge is open in all directions and with higher grades in the deeper hole 23MERC028 ending in mineralisation.
Raven results
Significant copper-gold mineralisation has also been returned from recent RC drilling at Raven:
- 10 metres at 1.35% copper and 0.10 g/t gold from 62 metres including 3 metres at 3.37% copper and 0.26 g/t gold in 23MERC032;
- 8 metres at 1.0% copper and 0.08 g/t gold from 85 metres in 23MER033;
- 15 metres at 1.0% copper and 0.10 g/t gold from 35 metres in 23MERC019; and
- 10 metres at 1.27% copper and 0.17 g/t gold from 77 metres in 23MERC018.
Meanwhile, Cooper is continuing a geochemical soil sampling program at its Gooroo Copper-Gold Project, about 413 kilometres northeast of Perth in the Gullewa Greenstone Belt of Western Australia.
“Validation of prospectivity”
Cooper Metals managing director Ian Warland said: “The Brumby Ridge copper-gold discovery has been an exciting outcome of initial scout drilling completed during the quarter and validation of the prospectivity of the Mt Isa East Copper-Gold Project.
"We also intercepted significant copper-gold mineralisation at the Raven and Mafic Sweats South prospects.
"These excellent drill results set the company up well for an exciting 2024 where our focus will be assessing the size and grade potential of these new discoveries while also continuing to test our extensive pipeline of copper-gold targets.”
Work, including diamond drilling and downhole electromagnetic surveys, is also continuing at Mt Isa East's King Solomon 1 prospect.
About Mt Isa East
The flagship Mt Isa East Project covers around 1,637 square kilometres of tenure with numerous historical copper-gold workings and prospects identified for immediate follow-up exploration.
These priority areas are based on historical exploration results and conceptual targeting of favourable host lithologies and structures with the potential to host significant copper-gold mineralisation, including iron sulphide copper gold (ISCG), iron oxide copper gold (IOCG) and shear-hosted copper-gold mineralisation.
The Mt Isa Inlier is highly prospective for IOCG, ISCG and shear-hosted copper +/- gold deposits.
Cooper Metals is a junior explorer focusing on copper and gold in proven mineralised provinces, which are underexplored and close to significant infrastructure, presenting a discovery opportunity for the company and its shareholders.
The Gooroo Copper-Gold Project covers a newly identified greenstone belt about 20 kilometres from Silver Lakes' Deflector mine. The 26-kilometre expanse of covered greenstone belt has had almost no exploration and was only added to government geology maps in 2020 after reinterpretation of geophysical data.
Here, Cooper is targeting Orogenic gold and copper-gold mineralisation of the Deflector style in the highly prospective Gullewa Greenstone Belt in the Murchison Province of the Yilgarn Craton.