DiscovEx Resources could be gearing up for a busy new year after drilling at its 17.5 per cent owned Greater Duchess project near Mt Isa in Queensland intersected a 34-metre zone of copper sulphides including a 24m section of predominantly semi massive copper sulphides. Carnaby Resources, who owns the majority rights to the project, says the intersection is completely open at depth and along strike to the southwest.
Carnaby’s shares skyrocketed over 55 per cent on intraday trading and approximately 8.5 million shares traded hands for the $53 million capped company.
According to Carnaby, the single hole into the Nil Desperandum prospect-part of the larger Greater Duchess copper gold project- was aimed at targeting an induced polarisation, or “IP” anomaly, parallel with the plunge of the prospect’s main shoot breccia zone.
Carnaby is now pressing ahead with supplementary drilling and IP survey that will be accelerated to target the southwest extensions unveiled through its latest work program.
The latest result follows the drilling of a nearby hole that intersected some 80m of copper sulphide mineralisation from about 235m to 315.7m.
Carnaby Resources Managing Director, Rob Watkins said:“Nil Desperandum is rapidly emerging as a major copper gold discovery in one of Australia’s premier copper districts located only 70km from Mt Isa and surrounded by world class infrastructure. The deposit appears to be getting bigger and better at depth and we are now fast-tracking further IP geophysical surveys to help guide a follow-up drilling program which will commence in Q1 2022.”
Management says drilling at the Nil Desperandum prospect will continue until Christmas time followed by brief respite before ripping in again in the new year.
The company will also look to kick off additional IP surveys as soon as possible and has secured a fleet of drill rigs to pepper its southwest extension targets.
Remarkably, Carnaby says the southwest is yet to be drill tested or been subjected to geophysics.
DiscovEx sold 82.5 per cent of its interest in its Southern Hub exploration tenements to Carnaby Resources in 2019 and the junior explorer looks to be making the most of its relatively new ground.
The recent work caps a busy end of year for DiscovEx, which only a few months ago unveiled a suite of compelling drill targets at its Octavia prospect, part of its Edjudina project, near Kalgoorlie.
DiscovEx says it is buoyed by previous exploration at Edjudina with historical results pulling in a 5m hit going 3.3 grams per tonne gold from 68m, including a 1m strike grading 11.4 g/t gold from 69m. Other notable results include a 2m intersection at 6.6 g/t gold from 60m.
The company says the solid historic results are only a few kilometres apart and the area has only been subjected to shallow and likely “ineffectual” exploration drilling.
With the price of copper sitting at near-decade highs and trading at over US$9,700 per tonne, DiscovEx could be in line for a bumper end of year, thanks to its work and that of its partner, Carnaby Resources, which looks to be delivering the goods in North Queensland.
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By Matt Birney
