Askari embarks on Kimberley copper-gold search

ASX-listed junior explorer Askari Metals has kicked off an initial mapping and geochemical sampling program at its “heavily under-explored” Horry copper-gold project about 90 kilometres south-west of Halls Creek on the eastern margin of Western Australia’s Kimberley region. The Horry exploration licence area takes in a smattering of historical copper and gold workings including the small Western Lead gold mine and the Horry Horse and Leo copper-gold excavations. The tenement has also produced some intriguing rock chip and stream sediment sampling hits previously.

Horry sits at the southern end of the stratigraphy that hosts Cazaly Resources’ Mt Angelo copper deposit and Anglo Australian Resources’ Koongie Park copper deposit to the north.

Perth-based Askari says copper-gold mineralisation at Horry has been identified in gossanous quartz veins within shear zones.

The company points out that historical exploration undertaken at the project has barely scratched the surface, consisting of a meagre 16 rock chip samples and 13 stream sediment samples.

Even so the rock chips that were gathered coughed up a highest copper value of 5.5 per cent and the stream sediment sampling returned better gold values of 54 grams per tonne and 41 g/t.

Old timers eked out about 216 tonnes of ore from structurally controlled rich quartz veins at Western Lead, with grades averaging a cracking 10.9 g/t.

The company says the Horry Horse and Leo workings gave up both copper and gold from within structural lodes.

According to Askari, the structurally controlled mineralisation at the project is lodged in quartz veins ranging from 2 metres to 7m wide and it occurs over a strike length of about 900m along a shear zone.

Askari Metals Vice-President Exploration and Geology Johan Lambrechts said: “We are excited to have commenced om-ground field activities at the highly prospective Horry project. The tenement has received minimal exploration work in the past, despite the presence of a historic gold mine and a number of historic samples including two results greater than an ounce gold as well as 2 per cent and 5.5 per cent copper, which certainly warrant further exploration and follow-up.”

Data collected from the reconnaissance mapping and sampling field work, as well as a concurrent review of the historical geophysical information will determine the exploration strategy at Horry going forward, Askari says.

In WA’s eastern Wheatbelt region, Askari’s inaugural drilling campaign at its flagship Burracoppin gold project about 20km east of Merredin is now under way.

The initial 2,000m reverse circulation program will be aimed at following up on a bevy of historical high-grade drill intersections and testing gold mineralisation beneath a line of old artisanal mining shafts.

Best of the historical intercepts were 18m grading an average 5.64 g/t gold from surface, 14m at 13.7 g/t from 32m and 2m at 9.1 g/t from 18m.

Rock chip sampling carried out by previous operators at Burracoppin also generated tantalising gold values including 71.39 g/t, 63.97 g/t, 63.15 g/t, 41.88 g/t, 29.7 g/t and 15.1 g/t.

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