Drilling of the first of three holes at Xtract Resources’ Bushranger copper/gold exploration project, in Australia, has thus far found copper mineralisation at a depth of 110 m, with mineralisation continuing over a 940 m interval to about 1 050 m depth, 235 m past the original planned finishing depth of the hole.

The Phase 1 diamond drilling campaign at the project located in the Lachlan Fold Belt, in New South Wales, is progressing to 1 089 m in angled drill hole BRDD-20-001.

Xtract notes that strong potassic alteration and pyrite mineralisation continues to the current hole depth of 1 089 m; however, copper mineralisation has tapered out over the last 30 m. The hole will be extended further to test for possible pick-up in copper grades but will be stopped if significant additional mineralisation is not encountered.

Copper mineralisation, in the form of disseminated and fracture-fill chalcopyrite associated with strongly altered quartz-feldspar porphyry, has been visually identified in core over a 940 m length, from 110 m to about 1 050 m depth, confirming that the Racecourse copper/gold deposit represents a substantial mineralised porphyry system.

The results of this hole will be assessed in the coming days and will feed into planning for the next holes of the programme. An independent porphyry deposit expert has been engaged to assist with developing future plans.

Xtract executive chairperson Colin Bird says mineralisation in the current hole appears to be finally tapering out.

“We will continue drilling for a further 30 m to 40 m to check for any additional mineralisation. This has proven to be a highly encouraging first hole on the property, indicating that we are in the early stages of the potential discovery of a substantial new porphyry system on the Lachlan Fold Belt.”

The Phase 1 drilling programme commenced on December 16, 2020, with angled hole BRDD-20-001 laid out at -50^o to drill down the plunge of the copper/gold porphyry deposit to a planned finishing depth of 815 m.

Subsequent drill holes will focus on drilling across the deposit to establish the width of the deposit and to obtain further grade information.

Xtract is using a handheld X-ray fluorescence analyser to provide preliminary indications of copper content and samples for definitive geochemical assay will be submitted to the geochemical laboratory on a progressive basis.

However, Xtract notes that accurate mineral content information for copper, gold and other accompanying elements will only be established by full laboratory analysis.