The Board of Xtract Resources Plc (“Xtract” or the “Company”) is pleased to advise that laboratory assays have been received from the final two drill holes (BRDD-21-005 & BRDD-21-006) completed on the Phase One diamond drilling programme at the Racecourse Mineral Resource on the Bushranger copper-gold exploration project, located in the Lachlan Fold Belt (“LFB”) of New South Wales, Australia.
Highlights
· Assay results for the final two angled holes of the Phase 1 exploration drilling at the Racecourse porphyry deposit, in tandem with the earlier reported drilling results, confirm the that the Racecourse copper mineralisation increases in width towards the northwest beyond the existing Inferred Mineral Resource
· Assay intervals include (see full interval details in Table 1 below):
BRDD-21-005
o 112m @ 0.22% CuEq from 716m
§ including 34m @ 0.28% CuEq from 736m
§ and 10m @ 0.33% CuEq from 802m
BRDD-21-006
o 222m @ 0.25% CuEq from 600m
§ including 40m @ 0.33% CuEq from 776m
§ including 22m @ 0.38% CuEq from 782m
· The Phase 1 drilling programme has revealed two targets of very high interest, one being the potential for extension of the theoretical open pit currently being modelled, the second being a propensity for more porphyry bodies and a significant increase in tonnage potential at depth which could be a bulk underground mining target.
· The planned Phase 2 drilling programme at Racecourse remains on track for commencement early in Quarter 3, 2021 which will focus on further definition of the shallower higher-grade copper-gold zone and testing of extensive IP geophysical anomalies to the south and east of the existing resource which might represent potential deposit extensions
Table 1 – Assay Results from Drill Hole BRDD-21-005 & BRDD-21-006*
*Assays undertaken by Bureau Veritas Minerals Pty. Ltd. Laboratory, Adelaide, Australia
**CuEq Formula: CuEq = Cu% + 0.62xAu (g/t) + 0.0093xAg (g/t)
Colin Bird, Executive Chairman said: “These assays complete our Phase 1 drilling report. We are pleased that every hole completed intersected long runs of copper mineralisation, showing the porphyry system to be of significant size. The comprehensive programme of geophysics has also suggested that the system is far larger than we originally thought. The geochemical analyses from Phase 1, together with the very encouraging geophysics results will greatly assist the planning for the Phase 2 drilling programme, which is expected to commence early Q3 2021. We now await results of the open pit modelling based on current drilling in order to ascertain the potential size of the pit. Thereafter we will utilise modelling of the recently completed geophysics and follow-up Phase 2 drilling to look at extending the size of the initial pit plan.”
Phase One Drilling Programme at the Racecourse Mineral Resource – Bushranger Project
The Phase One drilling programme at the Racecourse Mineral Resource was designed to follow up on the strong results obtained by Anglo American Exploration Australia Pty Ltd in 2014 and 2015 (refer to RNS released on 01 June 2020). The objective of the programme was to explore the extent of the copper-gold mineralised porphyry system to the northwest and at depth, beyond the limits of previous drilling, thereby testing the potential extensions to the northwest of the Racecourse Mineral Resource. At 71Mt @ 0.44% Cu and 0.064g/t Au, at a 0.3% Cu cut-off, the existing Racecourse Inferred Mineral Resource is believed to be one of the largest undeveloped porphyry copper-gold deposits in the Lachlan Fold Belt of New South Wales, Australia.
Following the success of the first hole of the programme, BRDD-20-001, which substantially extended the known limits of the deposit down-plunge to the north-west, subsequent holes in the Phase 1 programme were drilled obliquely across the deposit to test the width and grade of the mineralisation within the deposit extension. All completed holes intersected wider mineralised zones than anticipated in the form of disseminated and fracture-fill chalcopyrite, accompanied by pyrrhotite and pyrite, as confirmed by assays received for holes BRDD-21-002, 003, 005 and 006. It is apparent from the drilling results to date that there is significant scope to expand the current Inferred Mineral Resource at Racecourse. The new results, combined with historic drilling, point towards a higher-grade mineralised ‘cap’ to the deposit over the top of the central porphyry intrusion. Arising from the ongoing appraisal of the results, an independent firm has been engaged to undertake technical and financial modelling for an initial open pit mine, examining several pit layout scenarios and economic parameters.
The Phase 2 drilling programme at Racecourse, planned to commence early in Quarter 3, 2021, will focus on additional definition of the shallower higher-grade cap and testing of further deposit extensions to the south and east as suggested by the recent IP geophysics survey.
Please see the following web links for the Racecourse Mineral Resource drill hole location plan and long section:
Bushranger Project Drill Hole Location Plan
http://www.rns-pdf.londonstockexchange.com/rns/7404C_1-2021-6-22.pdf
Racecourse Mineral Resource Long Section
http://www.rns-pdf.londonstockexchange.com/rns/7404C_2-2021-6-22.pdf
Further information is available from the Company’s website which details the company’s project portfolio as well as a copy of this announcement: www.xtractresources.com
The information contained within this announcement is deemed by the Company to constitute inside information as stipulated under the Market Abuse Regulations (EU) No. 596/2014 as it forms part of UK Domestic Law by virtue of the European Union (Withdrawal) Act 2018 (“UK MAR”).
The person who arranged for the release of this announcement on behalf of the Company was Colin Bird, Director.
