Gold-Rich, High-Grade Zone Extended At Kharmagtai
Xanadu Mines Ltd (ASX: XAM, TSX: XAM) has intersected a wide zone of mineralisation with diamond drill hole KHDDH559B at the Stockwork Hill deposit on the company’s Kharmagtai porphyry copper and gold project in the South Gobi region of Mongolia.
Hole KHDDH559B intersectrd 226.2m @ 0.68% Cu and 1.43g/t Au (1.41% eCu) from 611.8m, including 175m @ 0.84% Cu and 1.83g/t Au (1.78% eCu) from 615m and 61m @ 1.43% Cu and 3.76g/t Au (3.36% eCu) from 651m
CEO, Dr Andrew Stewart, said similar mineralisation to that seen at the high-grade Hugo Dummett deposit within the giant Oyu Tolgoi mine, highlighting the potential of Kharmagtai.
“KHDDH559B is a very significant drill hole for the Kharmagtai project. This is the first time we have seen this density of bornite mineralisation at Kharmagtai,” Dr Stewart said.
“This hole provides a snapshot of what the lower zones of mineralisation at Kharmagtai could look like with increasing gold to copper ratios.
“The tenor of gold within the bornite is impressive, containing two to four grams of gold for every percent copper.
“This hole materially expands the width of the high-grade bornite zone and will help guide drilling for additional high-grade extensions. Our team is currently designing follow up drilling to test this exciting new target.”
The purpose of drilling KHDDH599B was to test extensions of Stockwork Hill at depth to inform the second phase of drilling focused on higher grade targets. KHDDH599B was drilled from the northern edge of Stockwork Hill southwards across the deposit and was designed to expand the northern edge of the tourmaline breccia mineralisation and then expand the high-grade bornite zone towards the south
KHDDH559B intersected two zones of mineralisation, an upper tourmaline breccia zone and a lower high- grade bornite zone. KHDDH559B entered tourmaline breccia mineralisation at 288m widening the main tourmaline breccia zone by 25m to the north.
The drill hole entered high-grade bornite mineralisation at 617m, encountering a wide zone of very high-grade gold rich copper sulphide mineralisation and expanding the bornite zone by 100m in total (50m to the north and 50m to the south)
Dr Stewart said that of note is the gold tenor of the lower, high-grade bornite mineralisation with between 2-4 g/t Au for each percent in copper, as compared to 1-2 g/t Au observed in the upper, tourmaline breccia mineralisation.
Importantly, structural information from this hole and the surrounding drilling has aided in a new structural interpretation, identifying the potential repeat of high-grade bornite mineralisation south of the current drilling, towards the base of White Hill.
Additionally, the understanding of the relationship between grade and geology is advancing. The highest grades appear to be located on the margins of the tourmaline breccia, where larger fragments allow for more space for copper and gold to precipitate. This combined with the advancing structural framework has defined a clear drill target to the south and below White Hill.
Phase 1 drilling at Kharmagtai is nearing completion, having significantly increased the scale of mineralisation at Zaraa and having identified a new zone of higher-grade mineralisation beneath Stockwork Hill. To date this included 33 diamond drill holes for approximately 22,933m, testing extensions to higher grade mineralisation at Stockwork Hill, Zaraa and Copper Hill and five new prospects for shallow mineralisation. Assay results have been returned for 21,404m with 1,529m of assays still pending.
Phase 2 will commence with interim drilling to follow up findings at KHDDH559B, and in parallel a detailed program will be designed to target and define higher grade zones.
