Venturex upgrades Sulphur Springs Resource
THE DRILL SERGEANT: Venturex Resources (ASX: VXR) has upgraded the Mineral Resource for the company’s Sulphur Springs copper-zinc deposit in the Pilbara region of Western Australia.
The upgrade follows the completion of a Reverse Circulation drilling program at Sulphur Springs, which Venturex said has confirmed high grade extensions to the Western Lens copper-zinc mineralisation.
Incorporation of the recent drilling results has increased the total Indicated and Inferred Resource for the Sulphur Springs deposit to:
– 12.83 million tonnes grading 1.5 per cent copper, 4.1 per cent zinc, 0.2 per cent lead and 17.6 grams per tonne silver based on a cut-off grade of copper greater than 0.4 per cent or zinc greater than 2 per cent.
“This increase in the Sulphur Springs Mineral Resource is an excellent result with further upside possible,” Venturex Resources managing director Michael Mulroney said in the company’s announcement to the Australian Securities Exchange.
“We anticipate that this will provide a strong basis for a higher conversion resource to reserve rate for the Sulphur Springs deposit as part of the current Feasibility Study.
“This would be an excellent outcome and would confirm the long term potential and value of the Pilbara copper-zinc project.”
The increase in the Sulphur Springs Mineral Resource increases the total Mineral Resource for the Pilbara copper-zinc project to:
– 26.37 million tonnes grading 1.2 per cent copper, 3.4 per cent zinc, 0.3 per cent lead and 18.9 g/t silver .
Venturex also reported results of recent exploration activities on its portfolio of copper-zinc deposits in the West Pilbara region of Western Australia.
Whim Creek Region exploration targets. Source: Company announcement
The company has received most of the assay results for recent drilling undertaken on new target areas within the Salt Creek trend, located approximately 17 kilometres northwest of Whim Creek.
RC drilling at East Balla intersected a broad zone of footwall-style alteration (chlorite, silica, sericite and locally fuchsite) with local zones of disseminated, and occasionally semi-massive, sulphide mineralisation.
Venturex said the results confirmed the sulphide mineralisation within the mineralised intervals is predominately pyrite (iron sulphide) with traces of copper and zinc mineralisation and also highlighted a broad zone (up to 17 metres) of anomalous copper, zinc and lead values consistent with stringer mineralisation in a peripheral footwall setting.
Several RC drill holes at the Dough Boy prospect, located at the southern end of the Salt Creek trend, intersected broad (+20 metres) zones of footwall-style alteration but no significant assays were recorded.
The two RC drill holes completed 400 metres south west along strike of the Salt Creek deposit prospect intersected only minor disseminated sulphide mineralisation.
The two diamond drill holes completed to test down-hole EM anomalies positioned down plunge from the existing Evelyn copper-zinc resource on the Liberty-Indee Joint Venture revealed the targeted contact horizon has been extensively folded.
Both drill holes intersected small (0.5m) zones of sulphide mineralisation consisting of predominately pyrrhotite (iron sulphide) with minor zinc and copper sulphides.
Assay results included:
– 0.4 metres at 0.09 per cent copper, 3.36 per cent zinc, 0.07 per cent lead, 7g/t silver from 362.4 metres; and
– 0.6m at 0.48 per cent copper, 0.04 per cent zinc, 0.01 per cent lead, 4g/t silver from 335.8m.