Highlands Pacific managing director John Gooding has welcomed the presence of a new copper-gold discovery in the Star Mountains, Western province, near the established Ok Tedi copper-gold mine, The National reports.
The final assays from its 14-hole diamond drilling programme at the Olgal prospect returned the highest copper and gold grades to date of 294 metres at 0.67% copper and 1.16 grams per tonne (g/t) gold from 320 metres.
“This hole is quite a surprise and the grade exceptional and more than justifies the effort and resources that we have expended at Star Mountains in the last two years” Gooding said.
“There is no doubt that this is a new copper-gold porphyry province close to the established infrastructure of the Ok Tedi Mine.”
“Importantly, with each hole we are increasing our conceptual understanding of the area and the interplay between the more than a dozen targets we have in mind to test”
“Drilling at Olgal has stopped for now with the rigs now located at the Futik and Pad48 prospects.
“Based on the Olgal results, we look forward to results from these and the next drill target at Rattatat in the coming months.
“Of the 14 hole programme at Olgal, 12 have encountered copper and gold mineralisation.”
Star Mountains leases, which include Nong River EL (exploration license) 1312, Mt Scorpion EL1781 and Tifalmin EL 1392, are located approximately 20km north of the Ok Tedi Mine.
These prospects lie within the highly prospective New Guinean Orogenic Belt, home to deposits like Grasberg, Ok Tedi, Frieda, Porgera and Hidden Valley.
A drilling programme is underway with some significant copper-gold intersections reported.
The final assays from its 14-hole diamond drilling programme at the Olgal prospect returned the highest copper and gold grades to date of 294 metres at 0.67% copper and 1.16 grams per tonne (g/t) gold from 320 metres.
“This hole is quite a surprise and the grade exceptional and more than justifies the effort and resources that we have expended at Star Mountains in the last two years” Gooding said.
“There is no doubt that this is a new copper-gold porphyry province close to the established infrastructure of the Ok Tedi Mine.”
“Importantly, with each hole we are increasing our conceptual understanding of the area and the interplay between the more than a dozen targets we have in mind to test”
“Drilling at Olgal has stopped for now with the rigs now located at the Futik and Pad48 prospects.
“Based on the Olgal results, we look forward to results from these and the next drill target at Rattatat in the coming months.
“Of the 14 hole programme at Olgal, 12 have encountered copper and gold mineralisation.”
Star Mountains leases, which include Nong River EL (exploration license) 1312, Mt Scorpion EL1781 and Tifalmin EL 1392, are located approximately 20km north of the Ok Tedi Mine.
These prospects lie within the highly prospective New Guinean Orogenic Belt, home to deposits like Grasberg, Ok Tedi, Frieda, Porgera and Hidden Valley.
A drilling programme is underway with some significant copper-gold intersections reported.