Caerus Mineral Resources has started Phase II drilling programme aimed to build a mineral resource at the copper-gold project in the Troulli licence, Cyprus.
The company plans to expand the coverage over the high-grade epithermal gold zone and target the underlying copper-gold sulphide mineralisation.
TWO-STEP PROGRAMME
Caerus is drilling two volcanogenic massive sulphide (VMS) bodies to build on the known high-grade sulphide mineralisation within the Troulli licence.
The two-step programme will focus on building resource tonnes of copper and gold ounces from hard rock targets within the Troulli licence.
The second step involves upgrading the mineralogical, metallurgical, grade and tonnage information for dumps, stockpiles and tailings on the site.
Previously returned grades of surface epithermal gold mineralisation were of up to 5.1g/t Au over 12 metres.
Drilling will specifically target residual sulphide mineralisation in the former open pit, the extension of the open pit orebody and the newly discovered orebody located beneath the recently drilled epithermal gold zone.
Caerus will in parallel conduct a surface sampling programme to define better the mineralogy, metallurgy, grade and tonnage of the existing ore stockpiles, dumps, and tailings within the Troulli licence as part of the programme devised by Jubilee Metals Group.
Overall, the programme will provide a combined mineral resource estimate for surface materials containing residual metals and hard rock resources.
TROULLI TEMPLATE
Chief executive Martyn Churchouse said that the start of the Phase II drill programme was a significant step in developing the Troulli project.
“It marks the point at which we begin to build a mineral resource and provisionally plan for the development and processing of both the metal-bearing surface materials and the high-grade hard rock copper and gold mineralisation beneath.
“Troulli is the model template that we plan to roll out across our growing suite of assets as we expand our resource base.”