Antares gets stuck into target definition at Surprise copper project

The first phase of RC drilling at Antares Metals’ Surprise project has confirmed high-grade mineralisation and it supports additional exploration activities.

The first phase of RC drilling at Antares’ Surprise project has returned encouraging results. Pic: Getty Images

• Impressive grades up to 15% copper have been delivered

• Results confirm the high-grade nature of the Surprise mineralisation

• Antares is now in full target generation mode before drilling begins

 

Special Report: Long-awaited results from an inaugural drilling campaign carried out on the Surprise project, 80km northeast of Mt Isa, have delivered impressive grades of copper and identified a likely continuation of mineralisation.

The program included six reverse circulation (RC) holes, following up on significant visual copper previously identified in drill chips.

Antares Metals (ASX:AM5) said the RC assays have also confirmed the pXRF indications of copper on the project with results as high as 15.8% copper from ASRC002.

The results include 11m at 1.8% copper and 1.3g/t gold from 68, including 4m at 3.8% copper from 71m, 2m at 10.2% copper and 1g/t gold from 44m and 5m at 4.7% copper and 0.9g/t gold from 101m.

Combined with a large, underexplored extensional target outlined by the high-definition magnetic survey completed on the asset, AM5 believes the results provide the company with an exciting drill target for the coming exploration season.

Key activities before drilling

“Along with the high copper grade, we have identified a likely continuation of the mineralisation via a buried magnetic anomaly, representing a fantastic drill target,” AM5 CEO Johan Lambrechts said.

Data acquired by AM5 in December last year highlighted a strong magnetic anomaly beneath the Surprise mine, which ends at the northern border of the excavation.

The magnetic anomaly is then displaced to the west, continuing northward.

There is a very strong correlation between the position of the magnetic anomaly and mineralised intercepts achieved historically and by the company's first phase of drilling.

With the eastern and western anomalies sharing the same magnitude and general characteristics, the company believes there could be a significant exploration target for extending the Surprise copper mineralisation.

The success of the Surprise copper project will be heavily supported by the identification of additional pods of copper mineralisation further along the strike of the current Surprise mine and/or at depth below the scant existing data.

Next steps for AM5 involve completing the geophysical analysis and interpretation, followed by target generation and additional drill campaigns to extend the Surprise copper mineralisation.

This article was developed in collaboration with Antares 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.

Originally published as Antares gets stuck into target definition at Surprise copper project