New World Resources Secures Third Drill Rig for Antler Copper Project
THE DRILL SERGEANT: New World Resources (ASX: NWC) has added a third drill rig to accelerate the drilling program it has underway at the company’s Antler copper and Javelin VMS projects in northern Arizona, USA.
New World Resources has had the exploration drilling program in operation for some time, during which it has defined more than 16 high-priority targets it considers to hold potential to discover high-grade volcanogenic massive sulphide (VMS) mineralisation at the two projects.
The third drill rig is scheduled to arrive at the Antler project later this month and is expected to be used for both ore reserve-definition drilling as well as resource expansion drilling.
Last year, NWC completed an Updated Scoping Study that outlined healthy economics around the potential development of the high-grade Indicated and Inferred Resource base at the Antler copper project, which currently comprises:
11.4 million tonnes at 2.1 per cent copper, 5 per cent zinc, 0.9 per cent lead, 32.9 grams per tonne silver and 0.36g/t gold (11.4Mt at 4.1 per cent copper-equivalent).
The company is close to finalising a Pre-Feasibility Study on the development of the project targeted for completion in June 2024.
“We are pleased to be committing to a third rig to accelerate our ongoing drilling program,” New World Resources managing director Mike Haynes said in the company’s ASX announcement.
“We have now defined more than 16 high-priority, untested exploration targets across our Antler and nearby Javelin VMS projects.
“These warrant concerted drilling in their own right.
“And with the mine schedule for the PFS all but finalised, we also want to be in a position to advance Ore Reserve definition drilling concurrently.
“Having a third drill rig on site gives us the flexibility both to get ore reserve definition drilling underway while also being able to swing that rig to help advance exploration drilling, as appropriate.
“This will help us further de-risk the project from a technical standpoint as we continue to move towards production – so that we convert Mineral Resources to Ore Reserves and, at the same time, work to expand the Resource base so we can continue to be confident that we are optimising the ultimate scale of the project development.”
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