- As the years’ end approaches, Antipa Minerals (AZY) has reviewed its 2020 exploration campaign
- Over the year, the company worked alongside Rio Tinto (RIO) to explore the Citadel Project, a WA tenement prospective for gold, copper, and silver
- Primarily, work focussed on the Calibre deposit, mainly a gold and copper play
- So far, the joint venture has drilled over 10,000 metres at Calibre, and the latest assays have returned as much as 18.2 grams per tonne gold and 0.31 per cent copper
- Outside the Calibre deposit, Antipa has also conducted drilling and surveying under a greenfield exploration program
- Before 2021, Antipa intends to pick out priority targets from its Calibre and Magnum Dome deposits, review the survey results, and plan greenfield target drilling
- Ultimately, all of this could lead to a mineral resource upgrade at Calibre
- Today’s update took Antipa shares 6.52 per cent higher in early afternoon trade, worth 4.9 cents each
- Meanwhile, Rio Tinto is down a slight 0.97 per cent, trading for $97.84 per share
As the years’ end approaches, Antipa Minerals (AZY) has reviewed its 2020 exploration campaign.
Since it last provided a drilling update, the company has received further assay results from a flagship deposit within its Paterson Province tenement.
What’s the project?
Currently, Antipa is locked in a joint venture with mining giant Rio Tinto (RIO). Together, the companies are exploring the Citadel Project, a minerals play prospective for gold, copper, and silver.
Covering roughly 1300 square kilometres and situated just a stone’s throw from Rio’s Winu copper-gold-silver deposit, the West Australian project is considered one of Antipa’s priority exploration plays.
Over the course of 2020, both parties conducted an intense exploration campaign across the Paterson Province play. Primarily, they targeted the Calibre deposit — a gold-copper-silver-tungsten tenement.
Calibre deposit
Now, drilling across the deposit has finished up for the year. And while they’ve only completed 81 per cent of Calibre’s planned drilling program, both Rio and Antipa have turned the soil on some signifcant results.
Overall, the joint venture drilled 10,510 metres across the deposit, using both reverse circulation (RC) and diamond drill rigs. So far, Antipa has received assay results for just under three-quarters of the holes drilled.
In today’s update, the company told the market it intersected as much as 18.2 grams per tonne gold and 0.31 per cent copper in hole CALB0025.
More broadly, the results to date indicate mineralisation at Calibre extends between 430 metres and 570 metres below surface, up to 300 metres across
strike, and along roughly one kilometre in strike length.
Combined with Citadel’s Magnum deposit, Calibre hosts a 63.8 million tonne mineral resource, grading at 0.8 grams per tonne gold and 0.2 per cent copper for 1.6 million gold ounces and 127,000 copper tonnes.
Greenfield exploration
Outside the Calibre deposit, Antipa has also conducted drilling and surveying under a greenfield exploration program.
During this campaign, the company drill tested eight holes and identified a high-priority target, which it intends to follow up once it’s given the green light.
What’s next?
The joint venture still has some planning to complete before the year ends. Before 2021, Antipa intends to pick out priority targets from its Calibre and Magnum Dome deposits, review the survey results, and plan greenfield target drilling.
Ultimately, all of this could lead to a mineral resource upgrade at Calibre once it receives and reviews all the drilling results.
Today’s update took Antipa shares 6.52 per cent higher, worth 4.9 cents each. Meanwhile, Rio Tinto is down a slight 0.97 per cent, trading for $97.84 per share at 1:45 pm AEDT.