Sarytogan Graphite Ltd (ASX:SGA) has provided an update on its copper exploration activities at the Bainazar Exploration Project, 20 kilometres west of the Sarytogan Graphite Deposit in Central Kazakhstan.
The company has now flown 3,348 line-kilometres of an aeromagnetic survey across the Bainazar Exploration Project, collected 3,700 soil samples across six prospect areas, and received assays for 2,500 soil samples.
Further, Sarytogan has pegged a second exploration licence elsewhere in Kazakhstan.
Sarytogan managing director Sean Gregory said: “Kazakhstan is an established mining jurisdiction with excellent prospectivity for copper porphyry mineralisation.
“Sarytogan’s in-country exploration team have had a busy summer progressing the Bainazar Copper Exploration Project and continuing to scour the country for further copper exploration opportunities.
“The data from the aeromagnetic survey and soil sampling is flowing in and I am personally excited to visit the anomalies emerging on the ground next week during my trip to Kazakhstan.”
Aero-magnetic survey
The survey has now been flown across the entire Bainazar exploration licence at 100-metre spacing.
Quality assurance was provided by Australian Consultant Geophysicists.
The aeromagnetic data will now be processed into images for geological interpretation.
Soil sampling
Sarytogan has collected 3,700 soil samples at a nominal 250-metre by 50-metre spacing across six prospect areas. Of these, 2,500, or two-thirds, of the assays have been received.
The company says the assays are high-quality and low-detection four-acid digest with an ICP-MS finish plus gold by 30g fire-assay. The data for known copper porphyry pathfinder elements is being contoured for geological interpretation in combination with the aero-magnetic images.
Additional copper projects
In addition to its Saytogan Graphite Project, the company sees great potential for underexplored copper porphyry mineralisation in Kazakhstan.
The Central Asian Orogenic Belt (CAOB) that runs through Kazakhstan hosts many multi-million-tonne copper porphyry deposits.
The company recently pegged a second exploration licence targeting copper porphyry mineralisation — the company will provide further details on this licence once it is granted.
This is part of Sarytogan’s strategy to leverage the capabilities of its in-country team, for their knowledge of the geology and of the Kazakh government processes. The company plans to assemble a portfolio of two to four copper exploration projects and to work up drill-ready exploration targets.
Looking ahead
The aero-magnetic data is being processed into images and the soil sample assays are being collated and mapped.
Anomalies of coincident geological structures from the aero-mag and path-finder elements are expected to identify areas of interest. The company expects to make further announcements as the data analysis progresses.