Polymetals Resources Ltd (ASX:POL) is highly encouraged by the first batch of assays from drilling at its recently acquired Endeavour silver, zinc and lead mine in the Cobar Basin of NSW.
The phase one program - completed on March 5 - returned “significant intercepts of high-grade mineralisation”, which Polymetals said was a key factor in determining the near-term strategy for the project.
High-grade mineralisation with zinc equivalent grades between 11% and 32% was returned over widths from 8 metres to 81 metres at the operation, which is currently under care and maintenance.
Strong results
A total of 21 reverse-circulation holes were drilled, totalling 2,868 metres, though assays for only the first six holes have been received.
The intercepts include 81 metres at 1.15 g/t gold, 473 g/t silver, 7.4% zinc, 5.5% lead and 0.11% copper, as well as an 8-metre portion that graded 2.21 g/t gold and 931 g/t silver.
Another hole returned 34 metres at 2.87 g/t gold, 131 g/t silver, 3.2% zinc, 4.3% lead and 0.07% copper, including 4 metres at 13.92 g/t gold.
The Endeavour Project
After several months spent reviewing potential acquisition opportunities, Polymetals purchased the Endeavour project, 40 kilometres northwest of Cobar in NSW, in late March this year.
The company issued a total of 52 million shares to Orana Minerals, the sole shareholder of Cobar Metals which held arrangements to acquire 100% of the Endeavour project.
The deal landed Polymetals 1,100 square kilometres of exploration licences within the Cobar Basin with 16.3 million tonnes of lead, zinc and silver resources within the mining leases, a fully permitted and operational mine, a 1.2-million-tonnes-per-year processing plant and supporting infrastructure, and plenty of scope to build on existing exploration work.
Next steps
Once all of the assays have been received, Polymetals expects to turn its attention to generating ore reserves sufficient enough to support the recommencement of operations.
Existing work plans will extend to additional in-mine and near-mine geophysics, drilling, modelling and metallurgical test-work.
Of particular interest in the North Lode area, access to which had been established before Endeavour was put on a care and maintenance schedule in December 2019.
The North Lode was identified early as having potential to generate significant near-term cash flow, particularly from gold and silver.
“Although early in our investigations, these initial North Lode high-grade assays (which now include elevated gold grades) confirm Polymetals due diligence conclusions for this zone and provide confidence in the company’s production focus strategy,” Polymetals executive chairman Dave Sproule said.
- by Oliver Gray