PERTH (miningweekly.com) – Diversified miner Rio Tinto has released more exploration results for its Winu copper find, in Western Australia, with its latest round of drilling intercepting copper grades of up to 0.48%.
The miner told shareholders on Thursday that results from the recent 42 drill holes continued to indicate relatively wide intersections of vein-style copper mineralisation associated with gold and silver beneath relatively shallow cover.
The mineralisation remains open at depth and to the east, north and south, with Rio having defined a current strike length of around 2.1 km. Drilling is ongoing with eight diamond rigs and three reverse circulation rigs in operation at Winu.
In addition to the exploration work, Rio is also conducting cultural heritage surveys and has started preliminary technical studies on the project, including environmental baseline studies, geotechnical and metallurgical testwork.
The miner is also conducting exploration within the broader Paterson province, on its wholly-owned licences and joint venture licences.