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- Cooper Metals (CPM) restarts exploration on its wholly-owned Ardmore Tenement at the Mount Isa East project in Queensland
- The company identified high grade copper-gold rock chips in November 2022, with assays returning up to 17.3 per cent copper and 0.4 grams per tonne gold
- The company will complete follow-up soil sampling with a portable XRF to improve its understanding of copper mineralisation
- Cooper MD Ian Warland says there are “several exciting targets” at Mt Isa East which will be looked at ahead of drill testing later in 2023
- CPM shares are up five per cent, trading at 31.5 cents at 3:10 pm AEDT
Cooper Metals (CPM) has restarted exploration efforts on its wholly-owned Ardmore Tenement at the Mount Isa East project in Queensland.
The company confirmed the identification of high grade copper-gold rock chips in November 2022, where assays returned up to 17.3 per cent copper and 0.4 grams per tonne (g/t) gold.
Cooper has started conducting detailed geochemical sampling to better define the anomalism and cover new targets which were only recently identified.
Cooper Managing Director Ian Warland said the Ardmore tenement was prioritised for three main reasons.
“…firstly; the tenement is along strike from Carnaby’s Mt Hope prospect and the interpreted IOCG corridor, secondly; Cooper’s earlier rock chip samples returned highly encouraging copper-gold assays and the potential for significant scale along strike, and thirdly; mineralisation identified to date is within a well-defined fault splay off the regionally significant Fountain Range Fault, hosted in the prospective Corella Formation,” he said.
The current sampling program will use a portable XRF to provide information regarding the scale potential and strength of the copper anomaly.
The company also added that geologists will be visiting a number of other prospects in coming weeks as part of its planned exploration efforts at the Mt Isa East project.
“Cooper has several exciting targets at Mt Isa East which it is systematically assessing and ranking ahead of drill testing later in the year,” Mr Warland added.
Cooper’s Ardmore tenement is located at the northern end of the same interpreted IOCG corridor, which hosts Carnaby Resources’ (CRB) Nil Desperandum, Lady Fanny and Mt Hope prospects.
In the southern area of the tenement, initial sampling along a sheared contact zone between the prospective Corella Formation and mafic rocks returned four rock chip samples with grades up to 17.25 per cent copper and 0.3 g/t gold.
The company also said its tenement provides exposure to the highly prospective Fountain Range Fault, next to Hammer Metals’ (HMX) Ajax and Trafalgar copper-gold prospects.
Samples adjacent to the Fountain Range Fault returned samples of up to 17.3 per cent copper and 0.4 g/t gold, as well as 2.41 per cent copper and 0.26 g/t gold.
Cooper’s follow-up soil sampling will be carried out in preparation to geophysical surveys and then ultimately drill testing.
CPM shares were up five per cent, trading at 31.5 cents at 3:10 pm AEDT.
