Tennant Minerals (ASX: TMS) will kick off a major follow-up drilling program next week at its 100 per cent-owned Barkly copper-gold project in the Northern Territory focusing on new high-grade lookalike targets to its initial Bluebird discovery.
The exploration campaign, using both air core and reverse circulation rigs will centre on three distinct zones of interest which sit within the 5km long Bluebird-Perseverance ironstone corridor, with initial findings expected before years-end.
The first six holes will chase up southern copper-gold extensions to the Bluebird discovery.
Bluebird is somewhat remarkable in that it was discovered under cover with no surface expressions whatsoever. The discovery holes show serious grades and widths with the headline hole coming in at a stellar 63m grading 2.1 per cent copper and 4.6 g/t gold. Another 30.5m intersection graded as high as 6.2 per cent copper and 6.9 g/t gold.
The latest campaign will also look to chase down similar mineralisation to the east and west of Bluebird across a target zone of some 2.5kms that also takes in Bluebird.
As part of the new campaign the rigs will be moved 1.5km to the west of Bluebird to test the eastern fringes of the Perseverance prospect after some uber-high grade and relatively shallow gold results were picked up during a previous exploration program. The best numbers from the last campaign at Perseverance include 3m grading a whopping 50 grams per tonne gold from just 42m and 3m running at 43.2g/t from 72m.
The final target of the campaign is to the east of Bluebird where 44 holes will be plunged into a gravity-magnetic anomaly which looks similar to the Bluebird discovery according to the company.
Newly gathered exploration data, including a detailed gravity survey and extensive auger geochemical work will be used to pinpoint future targets for the current and upcoming field seasons.
This new drilling program will continue our strategy of expanding Bluebird as one of the most important new discoveries in Tennant Creek for decades as well as starting follow up drilling on our list of high priority targets along strike.
Tennant Minerals CEO Vincent Algar
Two weeks ago, Tennant teamed up with Emmerson Resources and CuFe Ltd to explore a shared approach for developing their respective copper-gold projects in the Tennant Creek region. The idea behind the three-way alliance is to consider options such as a shared processing facilities, jointly tackling environmental permits, jointly planning mine schedules and managing the essential infrastructure of power, water, transport and accommodation together.
To kick things off the trio will complete a scoping study to determine the best way forward. Assuming a positive outcome, a detailed feasibility study to nail down a development plan will follow.
The parties are hoping to significantly accelerate production plans by pooling existing resources in a stand-alone operation.
At Tennant’s flagship Bluebird discovery, recent metallurgical testing shows the deposit is amenable to standard copper flotation, producing a regular copper and gold concentrate.
The company is also continuing to look at ways of improving gold recoveries, including gravity concentration and cyanide leaching in addition to exploring methods to recover other valuable elements such as cobalt, bismuth and silver.
The high-grading ore - which kicks in about 80m below surface - is linked to hematite alteration with quartz veining and features a blend of copper minerals transitioning from surface malachite to deeper chalcocite, bornite and chalcopyrite.
The mineralised style is akin to other high-grade iron oxide copper-gold (IOCG) discoveries made in the area such as Peko which produced 150,000 tonnes of copper grading 4 per cent and 410,000 ounces of gold running at 3.5g/t.
Additional examples of similar discoveries in the area include the White Devil mine which produced 760,000 ounces of gold at 14.6g/t in the 1990’s and Nobles Nob - considered the richest mine for its size in Australia - which produced 1.17 million ounces of gold at an eye-watering grade of 17g/t during its mine life to 1985. In the early 1930’s some of the ore at Nobles Nob was rumoured to be so rich that when hit with a hammer it would not fracture but flatten out like soft gold.
In total the region has unearthed more than 5.5 million ounces of gold at an average grade of 6.9g/t and more than 700,000 tonnes of copper averaging 2.8 per cent grades making it one of the most profitable mining regions in Australia.
With an expanding portfolio of targets and the support of recent geophysical markers, Tennant looks poised to potentially make some valuable additions to its resource base through the new wave of exploration.
When coupled with its new working alliance with Emmerson and CuFe which could deliver an earlier and cheaper pathway to production, Tennant appears to be positioning itself for strong growth in 2025, coinciding perfectly with the stellar gold price, currently trading just below the landmark AU$4000 per ounce price.
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