After completing a massive infill and extension campaign at its Kharmagtai copper-gold project in Mongolia, Xanadu Mines has shifted its focus to new discoveries outside the site’s current mineral resource.
The company is now operating three diamond drill rigs at Kharmagtai, with four deep holes planned to target mineralisation below its biggest deposit identified to date at White Hill. Results from the first hole sunk at White Hill have already extended the mineralised system by more than 600m, with a massive 1080m intercept grading 0.06 grams per tonne gold and 0.17 per cent copper from 491m for 0.21 per cent copper equivalent or 0.41g/t gold equivalent.
Xanadu says the deep drill campaign has been designed to ensure that a potential high-grade, large-scale and deeper “Oyu Tolgoi”-style deposit is discovered early in the prefeasibility process, allowing optimal infrastructure decisions to be made. Oyu Tolgoi, in the South Gobi region of Mongolia, is one of the world’s biggest known copper and gold deposits.
Shallow drilling at a second cluster has also extended mineralisation 800m along strike from the current mineral resource limit and within proximity of the company’s high-grade Stockwork Hill deposit. Initial drilling results show a 144m intercept at 0.18g/t gold and 0.25 per cent copper that management believes may be a faulted offset of Stockwork Hill.
Three more clusters are being targeted with a focus on extensions to known deposits and new porphyry copper-gold systems. An additional 9000m of diamond drilling has been completed in 41 shallow holes, with more than half returning significant intercepts.
Highlights show a 15m hit at 1.26 per cent copper from 127m including 5.95m grading 2.97 per cent from 132m.
Kharmagtai has a mineral resource estimate of 1.1 billion tonnes for 3 million tonnes of contained copper and 8 million ounces of gold. Management expects to provide an updated mineral resource before the end of this year, while its prefeasibility study (PFS) is due to be completed during the second half of next year.
Xanadu Mines vice president exploration Dr Andrew Stewart said: “Following the completion of more than 52,000 metres of infill and extensional drilling at Kharmagtai, our focus has shifted to the very exciting deep and shallow discovery drilling; aimed at making new economic discoveries outside the current MRE. Following successful delivery of higher-grade mineralisation from the infill and extensional drilling program, this purposeful program represents our most significant exploration pursuit in recent years.”
Earlier this year, the company completed two phases of its strategic partnership with Chinese copper giant Zijin Mining, giving it access to funding for its current round of exploration.
The deal saw Zijin invest US$35 million (AU$52 million), funds which will also be used to complete the Kharmagtai prefeasibility study. A 50-50 joint venture has been created between the two partners at a project level, with Xanadu the operator on the ground.
The partnership has allocated 18 months to knock over its PFS, while an earlier scoping study identified several upside opportunities that could materially upgrade the economics of the project.
One of the reasons the early Chinese emperors built the Great Wall was to stop the invasion of Mongolian hordes. With the size and scope of the copper-gold resource Xanadu is building at Kharmagtai, the sentiment between the two countries may now have been reversed.
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By Michael Philipps
