Cornish Metals Inc has intersected high grade copper-tin-silver mineralisation in its diamond drill programme at the United Downs project in Cornwall.
The Canadian miner drilled hole UD21_001 to a total depth of 260.24m and intersected one zone of high-grade tin and the second with tin-copper-silver mineralisation.
The drill programme follows the discovery in April 2020 of high grade copper-tin mineralisation in a structure named Lithium Lode of 14.7m grading 8.5% copper and 1.2% tin.
Cornish Metals said that the 2.61m tin-copper-silver intercept was the same zone of mineralisation as Lithium Lode, indicating that the mineralised zone has a vertical extent of at least 180m.
| Drill Hole | From (m) | To (m) | Length (m) | Copper (%) | Tin (%) | Silver (g/t) |
| UD21_001 | 47.57 | 48.61 | 1.04 | – | 7.9% | – |
| UD21_001 | 227.1 | 229.7 | 2.61 | 5.2% | 1.3% | 77.0 |
The company also noted that this was the first time that silver grades had been observed.
Assays are pending for drill holes UD21_002 to UD21_006 which intersected similar zones of mineralisation, currently interpreted as the extension of Lithium Lode.
NEW ZONE
Drill Hole UD21_007 intersected a new zone of mineralisation between approximately 204m and 209.6m, containing native copper for which assays are pending.
“This zone is approximately 100m above the target depth of Lithium Lode and could represent a completely new target,” said Cornish Metals in a statement.
Drilling to date has tested 200m of a strike extent within the potentially 900m long United Downs target zone.
Chief executive Richard Williams added that the company was pleasantly surprised with the silver content recorded in the results.
“The high-grade nature of the tin and copper mineralisation is similar to what was mined here between 1700 – 1870 and, subject to proving continuity of mineralisation, has the potential to support delineation of a mineral resource.
“The confirmation of silver in the system adds to the potential for the area.”
FURTHER TARGETS
Cornish Metals will this year be testing numerous additional targets.
These include the downdip extension of the historic Mount Wellington Mine, which operated until 1978, and a further lode to the south of Mount Wellington discovered during the 1970s but never followed up after the mine closed.