VANCOUVER (miningweekly.com) – The TSX-listed stock of copper producer Taseko Mines spiked up to 13.33% on Tuesday morning on news that the company has discovered a new high-grade copper deposit at its Gibraltar mine, in British Columbia.

Vancouver-based Taseko has intersected more than 341.4 m of varying copper grades at its 75%-owned mine, including selected intervals totalling 73 m averaging 0.68% copper equivalent, locked inside an interval of 155.5 m, averaging 0.42% copper.

“We do not believe the core of the new zone has been found, as world-class porphyries like Gibraltar usually exhibit links between the deeper magmatic source ores upwards through transitional porphyry systems,” stated president and CEO Russell Hallbauer.

These grades are well above the Gibraltar reserve grade of 0.26% copper.

Based on historical and 2015 drill results, Taseko is preparing an exploration work programme to drill an initial six holes totalling about 4 572 m, to better define and expand this new discovery.

INCREASING GRADES
Taseko advised that hole DDH 2015-001 tested the total thickness of mineralisation presented by three holes drilled in 1992. It has found evidence indicating to the north-west that Gibraltar has a large, high-grade core that remains to be discovered, at “reasonable depth”.

The three holes all terminated in mineralisation between 244 m and 274 m deep, with no gold assays undertaken at the time.

The historical intersections returned 93 m of 0.5% copper, of which the last 14 m returned 0.9% copper; 67 m of 0.61% copper, of which the last 22.3 m returned 0.68% copper; and an intersection of 73 m of 0.41% copper, with the last 76 m returning 0.40% copper.

“Not only do copper grades appear to be dramatically increasing towards the north-west, and at depth, the historical drill holes were never assayed for gold. With gold and silver replacing molybdenum in the mineralised zones, the copper equivalent grade will increase, compared to that of our current resources and reserves,” Hallbauer said.

Taseko noted that its present ore deposits on the Gibraltar property show indications of this vertical evolutionary relationship, but it is yet to completely evaluate the overall potential for deeper mineralisation, with increased grades beyond those it is currently mining.

Last month Taseko acquired about 2 500 ha in new mineral claims located about 2 km north-west of the Extension zone that formed part of the operation’s current compliant resources and reserves.

Taseko’s Toronto-quoted stock rose C$0.08 a share to C0.64 apiece in the morning session on Tuesday.