Encounter Resources Ltd (ASX:ENR) – which is exploring for copper in Western Australia and the Northern Territory – has hit significant mineralisation of the metal from the first hole drilled at its Sandover project north of Alice Springs, with an intersection of 0.3 metres at 2.1 percent copper from 634.3 metres.
Moreover, the drilling pulled up results which were unexpected given the company’s geophysical interpretation of what was there.
Encounter was testing for a first reductant unit within the Neoproterozoic sequence at an important structural location on the western section of what was known to be a copper-mineralised basin.
However, they intersected mineralisation in the basement rocks in a ‘flat-lying unconformity’ below the sequence in question, suggesting that a different type of deposit might be yielded here.
In particular, the company has noted the geophysical similarity of what they’ve found to Barrick Gold Corporation’s Lumwama copper deposit in Zambia, as well as the presence of magnetic features adjacent to the hole.
Encounter managing director Will Robinson said the process of exploration a greenfields project like this was always providing new learning experiences.
“We drilled this first diamond drill hole into what we interpreted was a favourable structural position, at the western end of the basin targeting the first reductant,” he said.
“We didn’t intersect the targeted reduced unit, so we extended the hole to the basement unconformity where it intersected high grade copper mineralisation.
“This provides further evidence of highly charged copper fluids in the basin. Mineralisation has been identified in both reduced sedimentary horizons within the basin and now also at the basement unconformity.”
More geophysics work – including a magnetic survey – will now be rolled out, before another program of drilling in the second half of 2024.
The recent drilling of this hole was also co-funded by the Northern Territory Geological Survey.
Encounter has been trading at 39.5 cents.