Helix Resources Ltd (ASX:HLX) is mobilising a drill rig to a large copper anomaly at the Bijoux prospect, part of HLX’s package of Western Group Tenements within the Cobar mining region of central New South Wales.
Recent auger geochemical sampling results of more than 500 parts per million (ppm) copper enhanced the prospectivity of the anomaly at Bijoux, leading the company to investigate the 400-metre-long zone with further drilling.
HLX previously generated results up to 2 metres at 5.76 copper and 10 metres at 1.48% copper at Bijoux, offering potential for mineralisation similar to the CSA deposit, which held mine reserve of 7.9 million tonnes at 4% copper and 16.1% silver as of December 2022.
The company is currently mapping out a reverse circulation (RC) drilling program for Bijoux, which will begin late this month.
“Obvious pathway” to copper extensions
“We are very excited to be resuming drilling at Bijoux,” Helix Resources managing director Kylie Prendergast said.
“The new copper auger results clearly show the extension to the known drilled copper zone, providing an obvious pathway for the follow up drilling to extend zones of higher-grade oxide and sulphide copper mineralisation.
“Helix is treating this area as a copper camp that contains a series of robust surface copper geochemistry targets, and the strategy is to discover new CSA-style copper lodes within these anomalous outlines.
“CSA-style copper lodes are high-grade, vertically extensive bodies of copper that can be continuous to depths of 2 kilometres (such as the nearby CSA copper mine operated by Metals Acquisition Ltd (ASX:MAC, NYSE:MTAL)).
“Helix has proven that viable CSA-style copper lodes occur on our tenements such as the copper mineral resources in the Canbelego Main Lode.
“The objective of the current exploration programs is to identify additional copper mineralisation in a near surface setting (less than 400 metres depth) to grow the existing mineral resources.
“Helix considers active exploration of high-quality targets for new copper, gold and base metal deposits will create value for shareholders.”
Canbelego’s total combined open cut and underground mineral resource currently sits at 1.83 million tonnes at 1.74% copper for 31,842 tonnes of contained copper metal.
Close to core resource area
Bijoux sits just 9 kilometres to the south of the main resource, offering an attractive opportunity to increase the proposed mine’s life and economic chops.
Bijoux high tenor +500 ppm copper zone showing previous RC copper intercepts and areas untested by previous drilling. Auger samples with >500 ppm copper are labelled.
In its next steps, Helix will drill-test Bijoux, consider potential for a diamond-drilled program targeting structural information and metallurgical samples, and begin infill and extensional auger drilling at the Canbelego to Caballero corridor at the Canbelego copper project.
HLX is also progressing auger drilling at the Muriel Tank Gold-Copper Project and has contracted geophysical consultants to complete surface electromagnetic surveys on multiple high priority targets at the Cobar project.
Helix geologists are currently on-site at Cobar to confirm logistics and access and complete reconnaissance mapping over the targets.
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