Scenes from the NT outback. Source: Adobe Stock
The Market Online - At The Bell

Join our daily newsletter At The Bell to receive exclusive market insights

The Northern Territory (NT) is heating up, and not only because of the Beetaloo Basin.

Microcap explorer Litchfield Minerals (ASX:LMS) has announced on Thursday it’s to begin drilling for copper in the top end.

Copper is currently on something of a bull run, driven by a world that doesn’t have enough of it to meet demand.

(There’s also the issue Chinese smelter margins have further encouraged producers to slow down – something I wrote a big explainer on for The Market Online recently.)

Located within the Mount Doreen tenement, the name of Litchfield’s copper target area of interest has a name perhaps counterintuitive – ‘Silver King,’

A maiden geomag survey in May 2023 first spotted a pretty good contender for a copper anomaly, and the rigs have fired up on Thursday going after that same curio.

A multi-purpose RC and diamond rig is currently at Silver King, according to Litchfield, going after what its geotechs perceive to be a sub-vertical pipe-like structure underground possibly rife with copper mineralisation.

Assay results will be the true test of that.

“We will be drilling a combination of Diamond from surface and then shallow RC collars and then HQ diamond ‘tails’ in this preliminary round,” Litchfield chief Matthew Pustahya said.

“The insights from the 2023 IP survey, coupled with historical magnetic data, affirm our confidence that the Silver King area is a great first Copper target for our maiden drilling campaign.”

LMS shares last traded at 16cps.

LMS by the numbers
More From The Market Online
A rubbish truck dumping landfill

‘Meaningful step towards our target’: Cleanaway JV opens door to monetising landfill gas

Cleanaway Waste Management has entered a joint venture with LMS Energy Pty Ltd to enable landfill…
Close up of gold nuggets

Leeuwin snaffles Marda Gold Project, aims to go after high-grade prospects

Leeuwin Metals has signed a binding share sale agreement to take on the Marda Gold Project…
The words "Market Open" appear stacked atop one another next to ASX company iconography.

ASX Market Open: Local bourse to stay red after Thursday’s brutal $50B wipe out | Dec 20, 2024

The ASX 200 is expected to follow up its bloody Thursday nosedive with another drop; futures are tipping the Aussie bourse to open
Nuclear energy concept

Regulator approves Paladin’s acquisition of TSX-listed Fission Uranium

Paladin Energy (ASX:PDN) has seen its shares defy a red Thursday and jump slightly on news…