Azure Minerals Limited (ASX: AZS) (“Azure” or “the Company”) is pleased to announce diamond drilling is underway at the Cascada copper prospect and associated porphyry copper targets on the Promontorio Project located in the state of Chihuahua, Mexico.
KEY POINTS
First drill hole in progress at Cascada
Drilling is designed to: o expand the Cascada high grade copper zone; and
o
test nearby porphyry copper targets Previous drilling returned spectacular high grade copper intercepts, including: 32.9m @ 4.6% Cu & 29.4m @ 4.4% Cu
Peak grades reached 46.9% Cu, 41.3g/t Au and 1,070g/t Ag
Azures Managing Director, Tony Rovira, commented:
“I am very pleased to announce that, following on from the recent successful capital raising, we have recommenced drilling at Cascada where our most recent program returned exceptional copper, gold and silver intercepts. The areas around and beneath Cascada and the neighbouring Promontorio deposit are the centre of our exploration focus. We believe there is strong potential for a high grade copper deposit at Cascada, and in addition the recent identification of porphyry copper targets by an IP survey gives us the possibility of large copper bodies at depth.”DETAILS
Drilling has commenced at Azures promising Cascada prospect within the flagship Promontorio Project. The first holes of the program are targeting extensions to the Cascada zone of high grade copper-gold-silver mineralisation. Previous drilling by Azure identified a central mineralised zone with true widths up to 40m averaging +5% Copper Equivalent
1 and peak grades of +40% Copper, surrounded by a lower grade copper-mineralised envelope (see Table 1).Table 1: Copper Mineralised Drill Intercepts at Cascada Deposit DRILL HOLE | HIGH GRADE COPPER ZONE | COPPER MINERALISED ENVELOPE |
APR-DD-087 | 35.9m @ 4.5% CuEq | 70.0m @ 2.6% CuEq |
APR-DD-089 | 32.9m @ 6.3% CuEq | 129.0m @ 2.9% CuEq |
APR-DD-091 | 29.4m @ 7.4% CuEq | 61.5m @ 4.1% CuEq |
APR-DD-092 | 32.4m @ 3.7% CuEq | 56.0m @ 2.9% CuEq |
APR-DD-093 | 40.9m @ 5.5% CuEq | 101.5m @ 3.0% CuEq |
APR-DD-098 | 19.0m @ 6.0% CuEq | High grade zone only |
APR-DD-104 | 6.8m @ 2.6% CuEq | 49.6m @ 1.4% CuEq |
A recently completed Induced Polarisation (IP) geophysical survey identified two strong IP anomalies. A near-surface anomaly is situated adjacent to and beneath the Cascada mineralisation and a large, deeper anomaly lies beneath both Cascada and the Promontorio deposit. Considering the geology of the area, these anomalies could represent two different bodies containing substantial sulphide mineralisation.
The shallow IP anomaly adjacent to Cascada extends from surface to join with the deeper anomaly at about 300m below surface. Expert consultants have interpreted this to be a feeder zone from the porphyry source at depth to the Cascada epithermal mineralisation at surface.
The deeper IP anomaly is believed to represent a porphyry body which to date is completely untested by drilling. This very large anomaly starts at about 300m below surface at the southern end of the survey area (directly beneath the Promontorio deposit), and it gradually gets deeper as it extends for over 600m towards the north.
The surveys resistivity responses indicate the presence of several highly resistive zones which are likely to represent areas of intense silicification. Azures exploration has identified a strong correlation between intense silicification and gold mineralisation, as is evident at Cascada and Risco Dorado.
Azures planned drilling program will test:
around and beneath the known mineralisation at Cascada with the aim of expanding the mineralised zone and enable a Mineral Resource to be estimated for this deposit;
the interpreted feeder zone connecting Cascada and the buried porphyry body; and
The Promontorio deposit contains a JORC-compliant (2004 Code) Mineral Resource2(Indicated + Inferred) of: Resource Classification | Tonnes | CuEq3 (%) | Cu (%) | Au (ppm) | Ag (ppm) |
Reported Above 0.5% CuEq cut-off | |||||
Indicated | 610,000 | 4.4 | 2.7 | 1.7 | 56 |
Inferred | 230,000 | 3.3 | 1.8 | 1.5 | 56 |
Total | 840,000 | 4.1 | 2.5 | 1.6 | 56 |
Victoria Thomas
Six Degrees Investor Relations
