Superior Resources has confirmed the discovery of significant molybdenum mineralisation at its Bottletree prospect that forms part of the company’s Greenvale copper project near Townsville in Queensland.
Recently received assay results from a drill campaign completed in December show impressive figures with a 6m intercept at 1.39 per cent molybdenum from 470m including a 1m section at an outstanding 5.2 per cent molybdenum from 474m.
Superior says the results mark a significant breakthrough at Bottletree with confirmation of a copper and molybdenum mineralised system characterised by features typically recognised within the wall rocks near porphyry copper-molybdenum intrusions, extending from surface to a depth of at least 850m down-dip.
One hole drilled to 1065m encountered regularly-spaced copper-mineralised veins over almost the entire length of the core. The company says most of the mineralisation within the hole represents low grade leakage from the central porphyry-style source. The presence of copper mineralisation over such a large area provides an early indication of the potential scale of the central porphyry system.
Assays from a prospect known as Porphyry Target B returned a 23m hit at 0.13 per cent copper, 0.05 grams per tonne gold, 0.3 parts per million silver and 28.9ppm molybdenum including a 6m section going 0.34 per cent copper, 0.09g/t gold, 0.8ppm silver and 70.3ppm molybdenum from 73m.
Superior Resources managing director Peter Hwang said: “The recently completed program has provided almost 5000 metres of valuable information and enabled significant breakthroughs that have implications for the greater Greenvale copper project. Importantly, the information validates Greenvale as a newly recognised porphyry province containing several porphyry systems with Tier-1 deposit potential.”
To date, exploration at Greenvale has focused on drilling holes to map porphyry pathfinder indicators such as alteration, geochemistry, porphyry vein characteristics and structure to develop an exploration model with the aim of discovering one or more mineralised porphyry cores.
Last year’s drill program consisted of six diamond drill holes across a total of 4952.8m and shows the porphyry province extends for at least 65km, includes at least five known or suspected additional porphyry prospects and is 100 per cent owned by the company.
Superior says it is confident that the province represents the northern remnants of the New South Wales Ordovician-age Macquarie Arc, which hosts the world-class Cadia and Ridgeway porphyry deposits. Several deep holes drilled in the recent program demonstrate the extensive effects of a porphyry alteration system with associated copper mineralisation that has been traced for at least one kilometre, both in horizontal and down-hole extent.
Superior says with molybdenum spot prices currently above US$60,000 per tonne, Bottletree’s molybdenum discovery could be transformational in terms of its overall economic potential.
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By Michael Philipps
