Cyprium Metals Ltd (ASX:CYM, OTC:CYPMF) has made a shallow high-grade copper discovery near Cue at the Heeler prospect, around 10 kilometres southwest of its Hollandaire copper-gold deposit in Western Australia's Murchison Province.
Sitting within Cyprium’s portfolio of exploration assets, the Heeler prospect is on tenements at the Cue joint venture with Ramelius Resources Ltd (ASX:RMS, which is operated by Cyprium, who owns 80% of the rights to base metals with 20% owned by Ramelius.
Cyprium is encouraged by a drill intercept of 15 metres at 3.26% copper, 0.70 g/t gold, 7.4 g/t silver and 151ppm cobalt from 70 metres downhole in drill hole 24CURC004.
This included a 7-metre intercept at 5.04% copper, 0.81 g/t gold, 11.4 g/t silver, 197ppm cobalt and 0.11% nickel from a depth of 71 metres.
A second intercept in that drill hole returned 3 metres at 1.09% copper and 0.44 g/t gold from 108 metres, including 1 metre at 2.54% copper and 1.19 g/t gold from 109 metres.
Cyprium notes that the mineralisation remains open at depth and along strike in both directions within a lightly tested copper soil anomaly that extends for 2.5 kilometres along strike.
“Potential for economic orebody”
Cyprium executive chairman Matt Fifield said: “While the company remains focused on delivering a robust plan for Nifty [copper project], we continue to maintain our outstanding portfolio of exploration assets.
"This new Heeler discovery is a great reminder of the prospective value within the company’s earlier-stage assets in the Paterson and Murchison provinces.
"Our exploration team targeted our limited drilling budget in the Murchison around the most prospective areas and hit outstanding grade that shows potential for an economic orebody. It’s exciting to have an unexpected shallow high-grade hit show up like this.
"With Nifty, Maroochydore, our Murchison portfolio and our Paterson JV with IGO, Cyprium has some of the best assets and exploration ground in Australia to deliver into the growing global requirements for copper.”
Underexplored base metals potential
“With Heeler, Cyprium continues to build on its copper-gold resource inventory in the Murchison," said Cyprium COO Milan Jerkovic.
"We have 203,000 tonnes of copper resource and 153,0000 ounces of gold (100% basis) at the nearby Hollandaire and Nanadie Well deposits and follow-up work around Heeler may well bring additional grade and scale into our portfolio.
"There are assays from this program outstanding, but we’re pleased to have hit shallow high-grade mineralisation.”
Cyprium geologist Mark Styles added: “The Cue region is an area that’s known for its gold deposits but hasn’t been well explored for its base metals potential.
"At Heeler, for example, we were attracted by the large, lightly tested +100ppm copper soil anomaly up to 400 metres wide and 2.5 kilometres long, historic shallow drill results with 0.3% copper in the core of the soil anomaly and a coincident geophysical magnetic high.
“These features are suggestive of a mafic-ultramafic association with base metal mineralisation in a style distinct from the felsic-hosted Hollandaire copper-gold deposit located 10 kilometres northeast of Heeler.”
“We drilled four holes in our program focusing on Heeler, following up on work in 2022. So far we have assays back from a single drillhole completed in our January 2024 program.
“The 24CURC004 intercept showed stacked shallow sulphide mineralisation that was visible in the drill chips. We also hit sulphides in the three other holes but we’re expecting lower tenor assay results,
Cyprium geologist Peter van Luyt said: “As we’ve looked harder at the mineralisation and the assays, this hole suggests a mafic-ultramafic orthomagmatic nickel-copper-cobalt type that would be similar to a Nova-Bollinger style deposit. When we have the additional assays, we will be in a position to plan follow-up work.”
2024 drill holes
The following images show the location of the four 2024 drill holes and a preliminary conceptual cross-section based on assays and visual interpretation. Drill hole 24CURC003 intersected lithologies and mineralisation similar to 24CURC004 but with lower levels of visible chalcopyrite (copper iron sulphide).
Drill holes 24CURC001 and 24CURC002 were drilled towards the southern end of the Heeler anomaly and intersected traces of chalcopyrite over wide intervals beneath the weathered carapace in lithologies similar to the Heeler host rocks.
Assay results for these three drill holes are pending.
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