Anglesey Mining plc has started preparations for the first infill drilling in nearly 50 years into the Northern copper zone (NCZ) at Parys Mountain on the Isle of Anglesey.
EXTENSIONS
The company has begun the design, planning and logistics to drill six holes for 3,700m to infill portions of the current resource and verify historical drilling.
Drilling will also test for extensions of the nearby high-grade Garth Daniel and Central zones.
The NCZ, last drilled in 1974, has a 2012 resource estimate of 9.4Mt at 1.27% copper, plus minor gold, silver, zinc and lead credits (1.6% CuEq).
IMPLICATIONS
Chief executive Jo Battershill added that drilling the NCZ could result in a “significant” portion of the deposit upgraded to the indicated category, as well as broad widths of copper mineralisation.
“Historical drilling hits included 146.3m at 1.0% Cu, 0.2% Pb, 0.3% Zn and 7g/t Ag, and 86.4m at 0.9% Cu.
“Very few of the historical intersections were incorporated into the current mineral resource estimate, so any success on these zones could have very positive implications on future resource updates.
“Historical drilling intersections include 5.2m at3.3% Cu, 6.2% Pb, 11.7% Zn, 434g/t Ag and 0.23g/t Au in the Garth Daniel zone and 3.8m at 8.3% Cu and 32g/t Ag in the Central zone.”
The six planned holes could potentially provide up to 14 “pierce points” across the Northern copper, Garth Daniel and Central zones, based on the company’s current interpretations.
The rig is due to mobilise to site during August with the programme potentially taking up to 25 weeks.
PLANT DESIGN
Mineral processing consultancy firm Grinding Solutions Limited (GSL) will begin metallurgical testwork in late June, which is expected to complete in approximately 10 weeks.
The testwork will determine the most optimal pre-concentration method to go into the plant design: either dense media separation or XRT ore-sorting.
Anglesey Mining has sent a 340kg sample to GSL, comprising a blend of White Rock and Engine zone with a combined head-grade of 0.42% Cu, 3.60% Zn, 3.08% Pb, 49g/t Ag and 0.7g/t Au (3.4% CuEq).
The blend is 3.3 (White Rock) to 1.0 (Engine zone), similar to the contribution that is expected to be delivered from the mine in the early years.
ENVIRONMENT
The company has also furthered its work relating to the environmental studies required as part of the planning application process.
Responses to April’s pre-application consultation will be included in the environmental impact and social assessment (EISA) scoping document, and additional day and night wildlife surveys have been conducted.
Preparations have also been made for the groundwater survey to include in the infrastructure foundation designs and the dry-stack tailings engineering studies.