Caspin Resources Ltd (ASX:CPN) has delivered the best gold and molybdenum grades to date during a reconnaissance aircore drilling program at Duchess Prospect within the Mount Squires Project in the West Musgrave region of Western Australia.
At Duchess West, the intersection of 1-metre at 6.04 g/t gold and 4 g/t silver at the bottom of hole are the best gold grades returned from the prospect so far.
Likewise, drilling has substantially increased molybdenum grades such as 7 metres at 902ppm molybdenum from surface to bottom of hole, including 1-metre at 3,220pp from 5 metres.
Notably, the polymetallic mineralisation at Duchess is indicative of a large-scale, hydrothermal mineralisation system at the prospect.
Caspin is looking forward to the results of the final extension and infill drilling at both the gold and molybdenum targets.
“Rapid progress”
Caspin CEO Greg Miles said: “We’re delighted with such impressive gold and molybdenum results at Duchess, demonstrating the rapid progress at the prospect from only a soil anomaly a few months ago.
“The reconnaissance aircore program has achieved its initial goal of confirming significant bedrock mineralisation and now appears to have given us a target for deeper testing on both mineralisation targets.
“The company is already planning a new program for testing both trends with a larger capacity drill rig in the next field season.
“Shareholders can look forward to further drilling results at Duchess, as well as further results from our nickel and copper exploration on the West Musgrave Corridor.”
Drill program
Caspin recently completed the second phase of reconnaissance aircore drilling at the Duchess Prospect, building on initial work reported in late September.
The first phase identified two clearly defined mineralised trends at the prospect, gold-silver at Duchess West) and copper-molybdenum at Duchess East.
Caspin states that this first batch of results from the second phase of drilling has returned even more promising results from both trends.
Geological model
The geological context of the polymetallic mineralisation that has been discovered at the Duchess Prospect is enigmatic and does not easily conform with well-known mineralisation styles.
The mineralisation is spatially associated with the Palgrave Caldera, an approximately 1.08 Ga major rhyolitic magmatic complex, that has been interpreted by the Geological Survey of WA as the remnants of a 'super-volcano' similar to the modern Yellowstone caldera in Wyoming, USA.
The observed molybdenum association is also supportive of a genetic link with the Palgrave Caldera, as molybdenum mineralisation is typically associated with rhyolite magmatism of this type.
Therefore, it is considered most likely that the company is dealing with a magmatic-hydrothermal system.