A seemingly modest update this week seems certain to result in Alkane boosting the already large estimated resource at its large porphyry copper gold prospects, Kaiser, Boda, Boda Two and Boda Three in the Molong area of central western NSW.
The region, already home to existing mines at Cadia (Newcrest), Northparkes (Chinese and Japanese owners), Tomingley (Alkane, gold only) and Cowal (Evolution Mining) is one of the most prospective in the country for large, low grade copper-gold mineralisation.
Alkane has already outlined around 894 million tonnes of copper and gold and at Kaiser and Boda, but it now looks like more resource is being outlined Between the Boda deposit and Boda Two and three.
The drilling reported on this week and still underway at the prospects will no doubt see that total jump to well over a million tonnes in two resource updates late this year and in early 2024.
Two significant gold-copper resources have now been defined within the corridor at Boda and Kaiser. Drilling continues to improve the confidence of the Boda and Kaiser deposits and to test mineralised zones outside their resource envelopes.
The company plans to update the resource data for Boda, including Boda Two in the final months of 2023 and a new resource estimate for Kaiser in the first quarter of 2024.
According to a report in February of this year Alkane said the Kaiser resource was estimated at 270 million tonnes at 0.54g/t gold equivalent for 4.7 million ounces of gold equivalent (2.05 million ounces of gold and 480,000 tonnes of copper Cu) while Boda was estimated at 624 million tonnes at 0.51g/t gold equivalent for 10.1 million ounces gold equivalent (5.21 million ounces of gold and 900,000 tonnes of copper).
(Gold, copper, silver or PGE ‘equivalents’ are a way of expressing the value of the prospect in the value of the dominant mineral – gold, copper etc.)
The total was 894 million tonnes at 0.52g/t gold equivalent for 14.8 million ounces of gold equivalent, made up of (7.26 million ounces of gold and 1.38 million tonnes of copper).
The next update on the size of the resources will include figures for the additional Boda areas of mineralisation.
The program extends over three kilometres from Kaiser to Boda, down to Boda Two and Boda Three. The Company believes this system has the potential to be a large, tier one gold-copper project.
The Kaiser Resource is located 500 metres northwest of the Boda deposit within the Northern Molong Porphyry Project (NMPP). Alkane says the average grade for Kaiser is slightly higher than Boda largely due to the higher copper grade.
In February, Alkane revealed that “as a result, the value of the contained copper exceeds the value of gold for the Boda-Kaiser resources.”
The latest drilling would seem to confirm that development.
Alkane Managing Director Nic Earner said:
“We continue to see mineralisation extending to the south of Boda into Boda Two. This includes higher grade areas within the Boda Two system.
“In our recent drilling we believe we have intersected a ‘causative’ monzodiorite dyke or pencil intrusive at Boda Two. We will use these results, expected in August 2023, to assist us in locating further higher-grade areas within the mineralisation.
“There is a lot of drilling still to come to further define the full 3km mineralised zone from Kaiser to Boda and then Boda Two and Three beyond. The Company looks forward to releasing results of this program as we work towards an upgraded mineral resource towards the end of the year.”
Four high-capacity drill rigs are in operation in the Boda district comprising of two RC and two diamond core rigs.
Recent exploration has defined this mineralisation as dislocated from the southern Boda resource envelope by the Reids Fault. The Boda Two prospect is located immediately south and outside of the Boda resource. Ongoing drilling will combine this mineralisation into the updated Boda Mineral Resource Estimation anticipated for in the final quarter of this year.
Alkane said that the results have been received from two diamond core drill holes for a total of 4,057 metres, testing outside the northwest margin of the Boda Inferred Resource Estimation.
Both drill holes intersected extensive gold-copper porphyry mineralisation including significant results from one hole of a massive 1.35 kilometres of mineralisation from 546 metres (meaning the mineralisation extend to the 2,000 metre or 2 kilometre level.
This hole graded 0.35g/t gold equivalent – AuEq (0.19g/t gold, 0.12% copper) from 545m metres. Of that 540 metres graded 0.48g/t AuEq (0.26g/t Au, 0.15% Cu) from 546 metres. In this hole there were two relatively high grade assays – 16 metres grading 2.06g/t AuEq (0.91g/t Au, 0.81% Cu) from 701 metres and 7 metres grading 1.85g/t AuEq (0.78g/t Au, 0.76% Cu) from 743 metres.
A number of extensive low grade gold and copper intersections were found in the second diamond drill hole testing this new area to the northwest of Boda Two.
Alkane says it has four high-capacity drilling rigs currently in operation at Boda, Boda Two and Kaiser. “Two diamond core drill rigs and one RC drilling rig are currently working at Boda and Boda Two. The planned drilling is infilling areas around high-grading mineralisation to improve confidence in the Boda Mineral Resource Estimation.”
“In addition, testing of extensions to mineralisation outside the calculated Boda Mineral Resource, focusing on the northwest of the Boda resource envelope terminating at the Solar Fault and south of the Boda resource envelope into Boda Two.
“A second RC drill rig is currently infilling the initial Kaiser Resource Mineral Estimation to improve confidence to define an updated Indicated Resource.”
