Leveraging on samples from drilling undertaken since 2021, Aeris Resources Ltd (ASX:AIS) has updated the mineral resource estimate (MRE) for Barbara deposit within its 100%-owned North Queensland Copper Operations to 2.2 million tonnes at 2.0% copper and 0.2 g/t gold.
The established Australian copper-gold producer and explorer drilled 20 holes for a total of 6,530 metres during the two-year campaign to now boast 45,000 tonnes of copper, 12,000 ounces of gold and 240,000 ounces of silver for the deposit.
Significantly, 89% of the resource is now in the indicated category.
The updated Barbara mineral resource estimate.
Barbara’s mineralisation has been traced to about 700 metres along strike with a 400-metre vertical extent in the deepest southern portion of the deposit.
The deposit remains open below the drilling footprint, offering the potential to increase the MRE further.
"Great success"
“The recent infill drilling campaign at Barbara has been a great success,” Aeris’ executive chairman Andre Labuschagne said.
“Not only have the ore tonnes and contained copper and gold increased, but importantly, the majority of the resource is now classified as indicated.
“Barbara is on a current mining lease and the metallurgy is well understood from when the deposit was previously mined as an open pit.
“We will now commence mining studies to investigate potential for an underground mining operation as well as update necessary environmental permitting.
“We believe there is significant potential to increase the size of the Barbara mineral resource with further drilling down-plunge.”
About North Queensland Copper
North Queensland key deposits and exploration tenement package.
The North Queensland Copper Operations comprises the Mt Colin copper operation, the Barbara development project and a prospective 967-square-kilometre tenement package in the Mt Isa/Cloncurry region.
The Barbara deposit is 60 kilometres northeast of Mt Isa and was previously mined as an open pit operation.
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