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True North Copper Limited (ASX:TNC) (True North, TNC or the Company) is pleased to announce an update to the Mineral Resource at Wallace North, part of its Cloncurry Project in Queensland, following the completion of a resource infill and extension drilling program.
HIGHLIGHTS
- TNC completed an eight-hole infill and extension drill program at Wallace North (refer to ASX release 3 October 2023: TNC intercepts 6m @ 12.99g/t Au and 10m @ 2.22% at Wallace North, with multiple high-grade zones), which has returned a 14% increase in tonnage, a 7% increase in contained copper and 18% increase in contained gold.
- Drilling demonstrated extensions of the main high-grade shoots at depth and along strike, and depth extension of the parallel hanging-wall lodes.
- Copper-gold (Cu-Au) shoots remain open at depth and will be a target for future drilling.
- Increased gold ounces further demonstrate the potential for Wallace North to deliver a significant gold co-product in addition to copper.
- Assays are pending for advanced grade control drilling program completed at Wallace North, comprising 142 holes for 7,565m with an average depth of 55m. The results will optimise early mine planning and scheduling.
- The resource upgrade also identifies prospective drilling targets that have the potential to extend the resource both down-dip and along-strike (currently scheduled for Q2 2024).
COMMENT
True North Copper’s Managing Director, Marty Costello said:
“It is extremely pleasing to see that just eight drill holes have increased the Wallace North resource to this extent in terms of both tonnes and contained copper and gold. The updated Wallace North Indicated and Inferred Resource now stands at 1.59Mt with grades of 1.29% copper and 0.93g/t gold.
The increase in the gold mineral inventory will significantly improve project economics. Additionally, the resource is open at depth and along strike. Modelling of the previously reported IP survey has identified several new targets for drilling in CY24. We remain excited about the potential of Wallace North to deliver early cash flow to the Company and add early value for shareholders.
As we have previously stated, Wallace North is an important part of our Cloncurry Project mining plans and the recent infill drilling and resource upgrade work have confirmed the potential of Wallace North to deliver near-term value.
To this end, we are commencing mine optimisation studies and will conduct revised metallurgical tests to bed-down the process plant flowsheet for both copper and gold. The copper mineralisation is predominantly chalcopyrite, which responds well to standard flotation, and given the gold is intertwined with the copper mineralisation, there is a strong possibility of extracting gold in a concentrated form during ore processing.”
Figure 1: Location of the Wallace North Project (Wallace Complex) in relation to TNC’s and other projects in the area. Resource References: TNC GAM and Mt Norma: True North Copper. ASX (TNC): Release 16 June 2023, Prospectus; True North Copper. ASX (TNC): Release 28 February 2023, Acquisition of the True North Copper Assets. Rocklands: CuDECO. ASX: (CDU) Release 3 March 2016, Rocklands Feasibility Study. Greenmount: Moly Mines Ltd. ASX: (MOL) Release 28 May 2018, Annual General Meeting Presentation. Jericho: AIC Mines Ltd. ASX: (AIC) Release 06 February 2023, Jericho Mineral Resource. Eloise: AIC Mines Ltd. ASX: (AIC) Release 30 March 2023, Significant Increase in Mineral Resources and Ore Reserves at Eloise Copper Mine. Monakoff and E1: Glencore PLC. LON: (GLEN) Resources & Reserves Report 31 January 2023, Last retrieved 27 September 2023. Ernest Henry: Evolution Mining Ltd. ASX: (EVN) Release 16 February 2023, Annual Mineral Resources and Ore Reserves Statement. Copper String Project: Queensland Government. EIS document: Release September 2022, Copper String Project, Coordinator General’s evaluation report on the environmental Impact statement.
Wallace North Resource Upgrade Summary
As previously reported (ASX release 3 October 2023: TNC intercepts 6m @ 12.99g/t Au and 10m @ 2.22% at Wallace North, with multiple high-grade zones), eight drill resource infill and extension reverse circulation (RC) holes were completed in June-July 2023 (Figure 2) at Wallace North.
TNC engaged Encompass Mining Pty Ltd (Encompass), to update the geological model and Mineral Resource for the Wallace North (Cu /Au) deposit based on delineation of mineralisation to a 0.3 Cu % envelope, following completion of the eight resource infill and extension drillholes.
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