Stavely Minerals Commences ‘Pivotal’ 2023 Campaign
THE DRILL SERGEANT: Stavely Minerals (ASX: SVY) declared a new mind set regarding the company’s 100 per cent-owned Stavely copper-gold project in western Victoria.
Stavely described upcoming activities as “a significant new phase of exploration” following an extensive review of regional and near-resource discovery opportunities.
As 2022 ended, Stavely invited porphyry expert, Dr Steve Garwin to review Cayley Lode drill data, to visit site, and inspect drill core.
Dr Garwin’s review delivered a new porphyry target beneath and along plunge of some deeper intercepts on the Cayley Lode, including holes SMD173 and SMD182.
SMD173 was one of the last diamond drill holes completed during the Mineral Resource drill-out.
There had been concerns raised that the Cayley Lode mineralisation might not extend below the low-angle structure, an opinion with which Stavely strongly disagreed.
SMD173 intercepted 43 metres at 2.6 per cent copper, 0.42 grams per tonne gold and 10g/t silver from 378m and while doing so altered the character of the mineralisation relative to intercepts from previous drill-holes.
SMD182 was the last drill hole of the Mineral Resource drill-out with the objective to further test the down-plunge extent of the Cayley Lode beyond SMD173.
SMD182 intercepted 10.4m at 4.34 per cent copper, 3.17g/t gold and 11g/t silver from 421m, including 4.9m at 6.74 per cent copper, 6.45g/t gold and 19g/t silver, demonstrating near parity of gold grade in g/t to the copper grade in per cent.
Stavely highlighted the near parity of gold grade in g/t to the copper grade in per centages, saying the economic potential of an increase in gold grades with high-grade copper in this intercept could not be ignored.
“Dr Garwin’s insights have assisted the site team to recognise a systematic zonation of sulphides in the high-grade copper-gold mineralised structures, and this has provided very material encouragement to pursue the Cayley Lode at depth,” Stavely Minerals executive chair and managing director Chris Cairns said in the company’s ASX announcement.
“In essence, the mineral assemblage in the last few, and so far deepest, drill holes completed on the Cayley Lode while completing the initial Mineral Resource drill-out, indicate an increase in temperature of mineral formation which, if it continues, should bring our drilling towards the causative porphyry.”
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