Tennant Minerals Ltd’s (ASX:TMS) first new drillhole of the Stage 2 diamond drilling programme at the company’s high-grade Bluebird copper-gold discovery in Australia’s Northern Territory, has intersected a promising copper zone.
The 7.0m zone of predominantly massive copper-sulphides from 164m (60% chalcopyrite – CuFeS2 and minor chalcocite Cu2) is located within a 32.5m intersection of intense haematite and copper mineralisation from 151.6m.
The Bluebird discovery is one of multiple targets identified within the Barkly Project along a 5km east-west trending gravity anomaly defined by Tennant, known as the “Bluebird Corridor”.
This latest diamond drilling intersection on section 448,320mE has extended the thick high-grade dilational zone of mineralisation at Bluebird another 20m to the west of recent high-grade copper-gold intersections previously announced by the company, including:
- 63.0m @ 2.1% Cu and 4.6g/t Au from 153m (down hole) in BBDD00121 (448,360mE), including 40.0m @ 3.0% Cu and 7.3g/t Au from 155.0m, including 27.55m @ 3.6% Cu and 10.0g/t Au from 160.45m, and
- 40m @ 2.6% Cu and 1.34g/t Au from 131m (down hole) in BDD00132 (448,340mE), including 24.5m @ 3.9% Cu and 0.45g/t Au from 146.5m, including 4.75m @ 15.2% Cu and 0.36g/t Au from 164m
Significantly, modelling of IP geophysics has identified a low-resistivity/high-chargeability target zone similar to the anomaly detected over the centre of the Bluebird discovery located a further 80m to the west. This IP anomaly represents potential for major extensions of the Bluebird copper-gold mineralisation at shallow depth.
Further drilling will now test 40m to the west of the BBDD0018 massive sulphide intersection the IP anomaly immediately west of Bluebird on section 448,240mE.
A second, multi-purpose (RC/diamond) drilling rig has been contracted to carry out this drilling and also test other targets within the Bluebird – Perseverance Target Zone to the west of Bluebird.
Deeper diamond drillhole, BBDD0019, is in progress testing the centre of the identified Bluebird zone near the deepest significant intersection to date of 17.8m @ 3.7 % Cu, 0.34g/t Au from 277m (incl. 9.5m @ 6.0% Cu) in BBDD00152, which indicates proximity to a second dilational (thickened) zone target at depth.
Drilling to date has identified a steep westerly plunging zone of copper-gold mineralisation extending from 60m to more than 250m below surface and 150m along strike in an east-west orientation.
Interpretation of the key drilling intersections, utilising structural data from logging of drill core, indicates that the thick and high-grade copper and gold intersections in BBDD00121 and BBDD00132 are associated with steeply-dipping structures that have intersected and “rolled-over” the axis of a shallow-plunging anticline, generating a thick dilational mineralised zone.
The current, Stage 2 drilling programme builds on the successful Stage 1 diamond drilling program recently completed at Bluebird. Up to 10 holes for 3,000m are being drilled in Stage 2 with the aim of extending the Bluebird discovery to a depth of more than 400m and test for extensions/repeats of the high-grade copper- gold zone along strike to the west. This will define the potential for a high-grade copper-gold mineral resource of similar scale to the Peko deposit, 20km to the west of Bluebird, which produced 3.7Mt @ 4% Cu and 3.5g/t Au from 1934 and 19813.
Up to seven diamond holes in the Stage 2 programme will be drilled to test the steeply plunging zone at Bluebird to more than 400m below surface, and to also test for a second dilational zone immediately below BBDD0013 (17.8m @ 3.7 % Cu and 0.34g/t Au.
An additional three drillholes are planned to follow up on the results of the IP geophysics program recently completed over the Bluebird mineralisation, to test the strong IP anomaly on 448,240mE, which represents an 80m step-out to the west of the BBDD0018 intersection.
The results of the IP programme have shown a distinct low resistivity (high conductivity) and coincident chargeability response corresponding with the Bluebird mineralisation on the central section 448,360mE, thus confirming that Bluebird can be detected with IP. This section includes the BBDD0012 intersection of 63m @ 2.1% Cu, 4.6g/t Au.
For further information please visit: https://tennantminerals.com/
