Willamulka Deposit Extended By Further Good Gold and Copper Drill Intersections
Adelaide Resources is pleased to announce further significant gold and copper intersections from the Willamulka Prospect on the Moonta Copper-Gold Project tenement northeast of Kadina, located on the Yorke Peninsula of South Australia (Figures 1 and 2 of the ASX announcement).
Drillhole WAC74 has returned 18 metres at 2.48g/t gold and 1.02% copper from 18 metres downhole, including high grade sub-intervals of 2 metres at 20.85g/t gold and 6 metres at 2.30% copper. Adjacent hole WAC75 returned an un-bottomed intersection of 18 metres at 0.32g/t gold and 1.02% copper from 57 metres, including a high grade sub-interval of 6 metres at 2.32% copper.
Four close spaced drill traverses at Willamulka now confirm that a well defined body of copper-gold mineralisation extends for a strike length of at least 150 metres, remains open at depth on two drill sections, and may remain open along strike.
New Willamulka Results
On 28 February 2011 the Company announced that drilling at Willamulka had returned a series of low to moderate grade copper and gold intersections, including some intersections developed over attractive widths. Results from three, close spaced, drill traverses defined a coherent body of mineralisation with a strike of approximately 100 metres hosted in weathered metasediments buried under a shallow blanket of surficial cover sand and clays. The top of the mineralised body persists to shallow depths, with some intersections commencing within 10 metres of the surface.
Assays are now available for samples from aircore holes drilled on two further traverses located to the southwest of the three drill lines mentioned above (Fig 2 of the ASX announcement). The shallow mineralised body remains well developed on the closest of the two traverses for which new assay results are available (Figure 3 of the ASX announcement), while deeper mineralised intervals are present in the second traverse (Figure 4 of the ASX announcement). New results are included in Table 1 of the ASX announcement.
Inclined drillhole WAC74 intersected 18 metres at 2.48g/t gold and 1.02% copper commencing from a downhole depth of 18 metres, or about 15.5 metres below surface. High grade gold and copper intervals are present within the 18 metre intersection and include 2 metres at 20.85g/t gold from 21 metres downhole, and 6 metres at 2.4% copper from 24 metres. The 2 metre interval of high grade gold accounts for the majority of the gold in the broader 18 metre intersection.
Adjacent hole WAC75 intersected the mineralised body at 57 metres downhole and remained in mineralisation to its final depth of 75 metres. This 18 metre intersection assays 0.32g/t gold and 1.02% copper. A high grade sub-interval of 6 metres at 2.32% copper commences at a downhole depth of 66 metres.
The mineralised body on the traverse on which WAC74 and WAC75 are located has a subvertical disposition and remains open at depth (Figure 3 of the ASX announcement).
Results from the second new traverse include 6 metres at 0.41% copper from 48 metres in WAC80, and 7 metes at 0.48g/t gold and 0.46% copper from 56 metres in adjacent hole WAC81. While the intersections on this drill section are relatively narrow, they occur close to the bottom of the drillholes. The interpreted shape of the mineralised body on this section is similar to the uppermost parts of the body defined on the drill sections to the northeast, and one possibility is that the body simply either plunges to the southwest at a shallow angle, or is down-faulted, defining a target area generally beneath the drilling completed to date (Fig 4 of the ASX announcement).
In its 28 February announcement, Adelaide Resources released preliminary copper results for hole WAC68. Assaying of this hole is now finalised confirming that the copper intersection is unchanged from that announced on 28 February (34 metres at 0.14g/t gold and 0.46% copper). Figure 5 of the ASX announcement presents a cross section of the drill traverse WAC68 lies on.
Excluding the drill traverse with the deeper intersections (shown in Figure 4 of the ASX announcement), four close spaced drill traverses now define a coherent body of copper and gold mineralisation at Willamulka. These traverses are sited over the most gold and copper anomalous section of the Willamulka geochemical anomaly.
Assay results are not available for additional holes drilled on a further eight traverses along strike from those discussed herein. The drill coverage at Willamulka now comprises nominally 100 metre spaced drill lines covering approximately 1100 metres of the 1500 metre long geochemical anomaly at the prospect. The collar locations of all holes, including the unassayed holes, appear on Figure 2 of the ASX announcement.
The contracted drilling rig, which has been in operation at Willamulka in 2011, has departed to complete a job for another of the drill contractor’s clients. The rig will return to complete further drilling at Willamulka as soon as this other job is compete, estimated to be in approximately three to four weeks time.
The Company’s Board of Directors took the decision to commence the 2011 exploration program on the Moonta Project ahead of the planned ASX listing of Peninsula Resources, despite the Moonta Project being one of Peninsula Resources’ assets. This decision was taken to honour the Company’s previous commitment to shareholders to recommence exploration on the Moonta Project as soon as the 2010 harvest was competed, and to make best use of the inter-cropping window when exploration activities cause the least disturbance to farmers.
No further results will be available to the Company with respect to the Moonta project until following the completion of the Peninsula Resources IPO process. Future results from the current exploration program on the Moonta Project will be released by Peninsula Resources.
Comment
Commenting on these latest results, Adelaide Resources’ Managing Director, Chris Drown, said
“These latest results increase the confirmed strike length of the well defined body of coppergold mineralisation at Willamulka to about 150 metres, with the body remaining open at depth on some sections, and possibly along strike to the northeast and the southwest.
“Our interpretation that deeper mineralisation intersected in holes WAC79 to WAC81, located on a drill traverse 100 metres south west of the 150 metre long body, could potentially be just the upper-most part of the same body plunging shallowly to the southwest presents us with an immediate target to test when the drill rig returns to site in a few weeks.
“We are most encouraged to see that high grade copper is present in the core of the body, while the narrow but high grade gold intersection in hole WAC74 demonstrates that Willamulka also contains some very attractive gold mineralisation.”
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