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Craig Nolan
Gold-focused explorer True North Copper is looking to boost discoveries in the Cloncurry district in north-west Queensland by bolstering the company’s gold inventory from a string of promising regional targets.
As part of the company’s Discover Regional Targets portfolio, management says it plans to revisit the high prospect of its Wynberg project, which it believes offers potential for district-level gold and copper mining.
Recent geological interpretation, including prospect analysis and interpretation of fixed loop electromagnetic (FLEM) surveys, has identified numerous gold and copper targets both within and outside the existing resource footprint.
The Wynberg project is part of the company’s wider Cloncurry project and is located near the suburb of Cloncurry.
Cloncurry is 120km from the famous mining town of Mt Isa and is accessible by the fully sealed two-lane Barkly Highway.
True North’s Wynberg already has a mineral resource of 640,000 tonnes at 2.7 grams per tonne (g/t) gold on a solid starting basis of 56,100 ounces. In fact, the project sits on a licensed mining lease and is within easy trucking distance of nearby gold processing infrastructure.
‘Hstoric mining has already moved copper and gold mining out of the existing resource model…’
True North Copper managing director and chief executive officer Andrew Mooney
Historical drilling results suggest a more significant change in the available resource, with mineralization outside the current formation returning 10 meters of 6.7g/t gold and 0.36% copper from just 29 metres. Another block was delivered 12m at 2.4g/t gold and 0.75% copper from 39m.
Wynberg’s True North project includes the Wynberg deposit and the Burnt Ute, Birdvale and Black Siltstone prospects. Historical exploration focused on shallow gold mining, with most of the previous mining to a depth of approximately 55m.
The company says the limited depth testing leaves a lot of scope to explore the expansion of the mineralization system, downslope and on strike. It also opens the door to drilling to discover additional discoveries in the wider project area.
In particular, management believes there is significant potential for additional gold below the current resource and is encouraged by the significant anomaly identified in its Burnt Ute prospect.
An east-west copper-gold geochemical trend extending 1.7 km has been defined at Burnt Ute, where recent Fixed Loop Electromagnetic (FLEM) surveys have found many strong responses at depths of over 600m.
True North Copper managing director and chief executive Andrew Mooney said: “Our latest technical work indicates that the mineralization system extends beyond the current resource level. Historical drilling has already inferred copper-gold mineralization outside the existing resource model, while recent geophysical studies at Burnt Ute have identified several forcing conductors consistent with strong copper-gold surface geochemistry.”
Mooney added the Wynberg project is an example of how the company can unlock value from its gold assets while focusing on developing its copper resources.
True North remains laser-focused on strengthening its copper stash across multiple deposits at its Cloncurry and Mt Oxide projects.
At Cloncurry, the company’s inventory of copper owned by its Australian Capital, Taipan and Wallace North deposits totals a shade under 109,000 tonnes of contained copper ore. A feasibility study is now underway to accelerate the development of these resources in a market that is currently paying high prices for copper and gold.
The Mt Oxide project’s Vero deposit contains an impressive 220,000 tonnes of copper, as well as more than five million ounces of silver.
Management has created a three-stage growth strategy for the company. Although Cloncurry is set to deliver near-term cash flow, Mt Oxide will do a great job of raising copper, with its impressive pipeline of regional targets.
Indeed the North knows its strength lies in its vast and expanding copper resources. However, if it can also inject more gold resources into its overall mineral pie, it could quickly transform the company from a small explorer to a growing developer.
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