Tertiary Minerals plc said it had encouraging analytical results from its first drill hole at the Lucky copper project in Nevada, USA.
Hole 21TLRC001 was drilled to a depth of 108.24 metres and intersected two magnetic gossan zones containing low-grade copper (+/-gold) mineralisation.
The miner said that there was highly anomalous copper (average 325 per million parts copper) over 24.38m from 83.82m to the base of hole.
| Down hole interval (m) | From From (m) | to to (m) | Copper % | Gold (g/t) | Silver (g/t) |
| 4.57 | 15.24 | 19.81 | 0.12 | 0.12 | 3.23 |
| 3.05 | 33.53 | 36.58 | 0.40 | 0.00 | 8.75 |
| 24.38 | 83.82 | 108.20 | 0.03 | 0.00 | 0.91 |
Geological evaluation of drill samples continues to define the host rock stratigraphy and a drone magnetic survey is planned to define additional drill targets.
All drill samples were submitted to Paragon Geochemical in Reno for sample preparation and
analysis.
GOSSANS
Gossans are typically produced by surface and near surface weathering of metallic deposits.
Any contained copper sulphide minerals originally contained in such deposits are oxidised
and the contained copper can be either leached out or enriched.
The grade of the mineralisation in gossans is consequently not necessarily a reliable indicator of the grade of the mineralisation from which it is derived.
“This maiden drill hole has confirmed the occurrence of copper mineralisation in magnetic gossan zones at shallow depth,” said executive chairman Patrick Cheetham.
“The geological setting of the mineralisation is not yet defined but trace element geochemistry suggests the gossans are developed from skarn-style mineralisation, a class of deposit containing a number of large economic copper deposits in Nevada and the adjoining states.”
Tertiary Minerals, which staked the Lucky copper project in 2020, is targeting disseminated copper mineralisation first identified during exploration in the 1950s.
The area lies on the east side of the old Aurum mining centre, 96km northeast of the major porphyry copper mining town of Ely in northeast Nevada.
Tertiary Minerals is an exploration and development company building a precious and base metals and industrial minerals portfolio.
The company is focused on Nevada (base and precious metals), Sweden (fluorspar) and Finland (a tantalum project and royalty interest projects).