True North Copper Ltd (ASX:TNC) has updated the mineral resource estimate (MRE) of its Vero copper-silver deposit in Queensland, recording a 20% rise in the ounces of silver present, with overall confidence in the resource growing, after confirmatory drilling carried out last year.
The updated resource is now set at 15.03 million tonnes (Mt) at 1.46% copper and 10.59 grams per tonne of silver, with this yielding a contained amount of 220,000 tonnes of copper and 5.13 million ounces of silver in the indicated and inferred categories.
On the basis of the increase in silver mineralisation, True North has suggested the possibility of a significant co-product to be yielded from the deposit, alongside copper.
In preparation for the MRE update, the company reassessed underground mine voids and introduced an improved geological model of the deposit, and this resulted in copper metal tonnes reporting a minimal decrease of 3% – True North argued that this facilitated a greater confidence in the resource, in the wake of confirmatory drilling last year.
The company is now looking ahead to deciding on potential mining options for the deposit, with these being built around the modelling, in addition to revised geotechnical and metallurgical studies which were also used for the MRE update.
CEO and MD Bevan Jones said the status of the global market for silver made True North’s increase in this metal a promising result.
“We are pleased to deliver an update to Vero’s contained resources, particularly an increase in silver, a metal which is currently seeing a supply-demand imbalance though demand in solar and other technology applications,” he said.
“This updated Resource also provides greater confidence in the deposit, following TNC’s first program of confirmatory drilling and a substantially updated geological model, which incorporates historic resource depletion by previous mining.
“We see exploration upside within reach of shallow drilling at Ivena, north of the Resource, and along a 10km section of the Dorman fault where we are actively exploring for satellite zones of mineralisation with the MIMDAS crew onsite completing the line at Camp Gossans.
“The survey team are now moving to the north to acquire the line over the Vero Deposits with the aim to identify drill targets at depth below the current resource.”
At 12:30 AEST, True North shares were trading at 4 cents, a rise of 2.56% since the market opened.