Bonanza 63m @ 2.1% Copper and 4.6 g/t Gold Intersection at Bluebird Including 27.55m @ 3.6% Copper and 10 g/t Gold
Latest results herald the discovery of a gold-rich zone within the broader high-grade copper-gold deposit
- Diamond drilling at the Bluebird Copper-Gold Prospect in the Tennant Creek Mineral Field has continued to produce spectacular results, including the discovery of a rich new gold shoot with bonanza intersection grades of up to 38.5 g/t Au within the broader copper-gold zone.
- The first new diamond drillhole results, from BBDD0012, include the following intersections:
- 63.0m @ 2.1 % Cu and 4.6 g/t Au from 153.0m (down hole)
- including 40.0m @ 3.0 % Cu and 7.3 g/t Au from 155.0m
- including 27.55m @ 3.6 % Cu and 10.0 g/t Au from 160.45m
- including 7.0m @ 1.4 % Cu and 38.5 g/t Au from 181.0m (see Photo 2).
- These results highlight Bluebird’s potential to rival other high-grade copper and gold deposits including Peko (3.7Mt @ 4% Cu, 3.5 g/t Au5) and Nobles Nob (2Mt @ 17.3 g/t Au5), both located only 20km west of Bluebird.
- Results also enhance prospectivity of additional magnetic-gravity targets within the 5km strike-length Bluebird Corridor including Perseverance, 1.5km west of Bluebird, where previous drill-hits of 3m @ 50.0 g/t Au6 and 3m @ 43.2 g/t Au6 have not been followed up.
- Assay results are pending from a further five drillholes in the current diamond drilling program, all of which intersected thick hematite alteration and copper mineralisation (see descriptions, Appendix 1) that remains completely open to the west and at depth.
Tennant Minerals Chairman Matthew Driscoll commented:
“The latest drilling results from Bluebird are stunning. Not only have we continued to intersect thick, high-grade copper, but we have also discovered a distinct high-grade gold shoot within the broader mineralised zone with spectacular intersection grades of up to 38.5 grams per tonne gold.
“We have really only scratched the surface at Bluebird, with the copper-gold discovery zone still completely open to the west and below 200 metres depth.
“In addition to Bluebird, we have identified at least another 12 untested magnetic/gravity targets with a similar signature to Bluebird along the 5km Bluebird geophysical corridor.
“It is an exciting time for the Company and its shareholders as we await the remaining results from our latest drilling program at Bluebird and define additional new drilling targets along the 5km corridor to continue building and expanding this significant new high-grade copper-gold discovery.”
Photo 1: Diamond drilling rig on the BBDD00120 site at the Bluebird copper-gold discovery
Northern Territory focused copper-gold explorer, Tennant Minerals Limited (ASX: TMS) (“Tennant” or “the Company”) is very pleased to announce it has received the assay results from the first hole (BBDD0012) of the six-hole Stage 1 diamond drilling program0 recently completed at the Bluebird copper-gold discovery. BBDD0012 returned a thick intersection of high-grade copper and gold (see cross section Figure 1, longitudinal projection, Figure 2 and Table 1 for all significant intersections) which included:
- 63.0m @ 2.1% Cu and 4.6 g/t Au from 153.0m (down hole)
- including 40.0m @ 3.0% Cu and 7.3 g/t Au from 155.0m
- including 27.55m @ 3.6% Cu and 10.0 g/t Au from 160.45m
- including 15.55m @ 5.6% Cu and 0.2 g/t Au from 160.45m, and,
- including 7.0m @ 1.4% Cu and 38.5 g/t Au from 181.0m.
Bluebird is located within the Company’s 100% owned Barkly Project in the Northern Territory at the eastern edge of the Tennant Creek (copper-gold) Mineral Field (TCMF), which has produced over 5Moz of gold and over 500kt of copper from 1934 to 2005 (see location, Figure 3).
The six-hole (1,700m) Stage 1 follow-up diamond drilling program (details, see Table 2) was designed to scope out and expand the footprint of the recently discovered high-grade copper-gold zone at Bluebird.
All six diamond drillholes intersected intense hematite alteration with visible copper mineralisation including malachite and/or chalcocite (copper sulphide) and native copper (see descriptions, Appendix 1).
The intensely-mineralised copper-gold intersection in BBDD0012 is to the west and deeper (down plunge) than BBDD00091, which intersected 50m @ 2.7% Cu and 0.52 g/t Au from 158m (down hole) including 24m @ 5.01% Cu, 1.01 g/t Au and 61.7 g/t Ag from 159m (see cross section 448,380mE, Figure 4 and Figure 2).
Figure 1: Cross-section 448,360mE with new BBDD0012 intersection and previous BBDD0010 drill-hit
Core samples are currently being assayed from a further three mineralised intersections2 (see locations, Figure 2 and Appendix 1 for descriptions of mineralisation), including:
- BBDD0013 that tested extensions of the high-grade copper-gold zone to the west of BBDD0012, intersecting a 46m zone of hematite alteration, including 21m of intense hematite-magnetite and copper mineralisation (native copper and chalcocite) from 157m downhole.
- BBDD0014 that tested the top of the Bluebird mineralised zone, intersecting 34m of hematite-silica alteration, including 16m of copper mineralisation (native copper and malachite) from 130m.
- BBDD0015, that tested the Bluebird mineralisation to the west and deeper (down-plunge) from BBDD0012 and intersected 62m of hematite-silica alteration, including a 20m zone of specular-hematite and copper mineralisation (malachite, native copper, chalcocite) from 277m.
Significantly, the iron-oxide alteration and copper mineralisation intersected in BBDD0015 has changed orientation to dip steeply to the north (see cross section, Figure 5). This steepening of the mineralised zone at depth suggests that some previous holes may have stopped short of the main high-grade zone, which could extend much deeper than previously interpreted (see Figure 2 and Figure 4).
Figure 2: Bluebird longitudinal projection with BBDD0012 intersection, previous copper-gold hits and new holes
A further two step-out diamond drillholes have tested the Bluebird discovery to the west and down-plunge of all previous holes (Figure 2), producing an intersection in BBDD0017 of 64m hematite alteration from 162m, including a 33m zone of intense hematite-magnetite alteration with visual copper mineralisation (native copper and chalcocite - see Appendix 1 for descriptions) from 173m.
Also, BBDD0016 intersected a deeper zone of mineralisation on the same western step-out section (448,320mE) that included two zones of hematite with copper mineralisation that are interpreted to lie on the western and eastern limb of an anticline. The deeper zone includes a 35m zone of hematite alteration from 291m with 14m of copper mineralisation (malachite and/or chalcocite - see Appendix 1 for descriptions) from 297m.
Downhole electromagnetics (DHEM) will be carried out shortly from the two western-most holes, BBDD0016 and BBDD0017, to detect in-hole or off hole conductors that may represent extensions or repeats of the Bluebird sulphide zone, which will be targeted for further drilling.
The drilling to date has identified a steep westerly plunging zone of copper-gold mineralisation that extends from 60m to >200m below surface (Figure 1) and at-least 150m along strike in an east-west orientation (Figure 2).
Interpretation of the key drilling intersections utilising structural data from logging of drill core indicates that the thick and high-grade copper and gold intersection in BBDD0012 is associated with steeply dipping structures that have intersected the axis of a shallow-plunging anticline (see Figure 1).
This association of thick and high-grade copper and gold mineralisation developed across the top of anticlinal fold structures is analogous to other major discoveries at Tennant Creek including the Warrego copper-gold deposit (Figure 3) of Peko-Wallsend that produced 6.75Mt @ 1.9% Cu, 6.6 g/t Au3 from 1972 to 1989 and the Rover 1 discovery of Castille Resources (ASX:CST) in the southwestern part of the TCMF where a Mineral Resource of 4.7Mt @ 1.63% Cu and 1.73 g/t Au has recently been announced4.
Figure 3: Location of the Barkly Project and major historical mines in the Tennant Creek Mineral Field
Planning underway for the Stage 2 follow-up diamond drilling program at Bluebird:
The current follow-up diamond drilling program at Bluebird is designed to scope out and expand the footprint of the high-grade copper-gold mineralisation in two stages, comprising:
i) The completed Stage 1 diamond drilling program0 of 6 holes for 1,700m that tested the central thickest part of the shallow, westerly plunging copper-gold shoot and intersected the thick and high-grade copper and gold in BBDD0012. This drilling has extended the zone to the west and to a depth of more than 200m below surface – and remains open (see Figure 2), and,
ii) A Stage 2 diamond drilling program of up to 10 step-out holes for 3,000m0 to be designed to significantly expand the footprint of the Bluebird discovery to over 300m strike length and potentially >500m vertical depth.
Following receipt of all Stage 1 results and interpretation of structural and alteration data, a 3-dimensional model of the mineralised zone drilled to date will be constructed. This, combined with modelling of geophysical data, will enable fine tuning of the Stage 2 drilling program.
MULTIPLE COPPER-GOLD TARGETS IDENTIFIED WITHIN THE BLUEBIRD CORRIDOR
The Barkly Project comprises the Barkly (EL 28620) and Babbler (EL 30701) tenements (see location, Figure 3) that are both considered highly prospective for magnetite-hematite (iron-oxide) copper-gold (IOCG) mineralisation.
The intersection of high-grade copper and gold at Bluebird highlights the potential of the Project to host deposits similar to other previously mined ore-bodies in the Tennant Creek Mineral Field such as the Peko deposit that produced 3.7Mt @ 4% Cu and 3.5 g/t Au from 1934 and 19815 and Nobles Nob that produced 2Mt @ 17.3 g/t Au from 1947 to 19865, both of which are located only 20km west of Bluebird in an identical geological setting (see Figure 3 for locations).
The Bluebird discovery is associated with a gravity high, that is part of a 5km long gravity anomaly termed the “Bluebird Corridor” (see Figure 6). This gravity anomaly reflects high-density, iron enrichment in the primary zone below the near surface leaching that extends to >60m depth at Bluebird (Figure 2).
Detailed gravity modelling indicates that the high-density iron enrichment zone extends strongly to the west of Bluebird, potentially linking with the Perseverance high-grade gold deposit 1.5km to the west, (Figure 6). Previous RC drilling under the historical gold workings at Perseverance produced shallow high-grade gold intersections such as 3m @ 50.0 g/t Au from 42m in PERC0156 and 3m @ 43.2 g/t Au from 72m in PERC0016. These high-grade gold intersections have not previously been followed up.
Previous ground magnetics indicates that Bluebird is associated with a linear, west-southwest trending magnetic anomaly and coincident gravity high. The Company has identified at least another 12 similar magnetic-gravity targets along the Bluebird Corridor (Figure 6) that have not been effectively tested. In order to better define these magnetic anomalies, the Company completed a high-resolution drone magnetics survey over the entire 5km Bluebird gravity corridor in April/May 2022.
Processing of the drone magnetics survey data has been finalised and modelling and imaging by Southern Geoscience (SGC) is nearing completion. This new imaging and modelling are expected to better define targets for drill testing. Further reverse circulation (RC) and/or diamond drilling will then be planned to test priority copper-gold targets identified from the magnetics and gravity modelling along the 5km Bluebird Corridor (Figure 6).
Figure 6: Bouguer 1VD gravity image with Bluebird Prospect and targets along the 5km Bluebird Corridor
Table 1 below includes all significant intersections in BBDD0012:
Drillhole
From
To
Interval
Cu %
Au g/t
Ag g/t
Bi %
Co g/t
Fe %
Cut-off
BBDD0012
153.00
216.0
63.00
2.1
4.6
3.3
0.10
83.0
18.9
0.8% Cu
including
160.45
216.0
55.55
2.3
5.0
3.6
0.11
85.2
20.8
1.0% Cu
including
155.00
195.0
40.00
3.0
7.3
3.7
0.15
124.6
19.5
1.0% Cu
including
160.45
195.0
34.55
3.3
8.0
4.0
0.17
130.6
21.6
2.0% Cu
including
160.45
188.0
27.55
3.6
10.0
4.4
0.18
134.8
22.1
2.0% Cu
including
160.45
176.0
15.55
5.6
0.2
5.0
0.03
83.0
20.7
3.0% Cu
and including
181.00
188.0
7.00
1.4
38.5
4.3
0.61
257.5
23.0
1.0 g/t Au
Table 2 below includes Stage 1 drillhole details to date:
Hole #
Dip°
Azi_Grid°
GRID_E
GRID_N
RL
Mud-rotary (m)
DDC (m)
Total Depth (m)
BBDD012
-60
0
448,360
7,827,032
332
87
142
229
BBDD013
-65
0
448,340
7,827,052
332
81
162
243
BBDD014
-65
0
448,340
7,827,072
332
57
151
208
BBDD015
-65
0
448,340
7,827,012
332
57
298
355
BBDD016
-65
0
448,320
7,827,010
332
60
303
363
BBDD017
-65
0
448,320
7,827,030
332
60
243
303
Total
401
1,299
1,700
Appendix 1 includes descriptions of the mineralisation intersected in BBDD0013 to BBDD0017. Results for these holes will be reported when available. Appendix 2 is JORC Table 1, Sections 1 and 2.
Photo 2: BBDD00120 drillcore, hematite breccia and bonanza gold intersection 7.0m @ 1.4 % Cu and 38.5 g/t Au
REFERENCES
0 06 June 2022. Tennant Minerals (ASX.TMS): “55m Intensely Copper Mineralised Intersection at Bluebird”.
1 08 March 2022. Tennant Minerals (ASX. TMS): “Spectacular 50m @ 2.70% copper intersection at Bluebird”.
2 6 July 2022. Tennant Minerals (ASX. TMS): “Major extensions of Bluebird Copper-Gold Discovery Intersected”.
3 Portergeo.com.au/database/mineinfo. Tennant Creek - Gecko, Warrego, White Devil, Nobles Nob, Juno, Peko, Argo.
4 08 March 2022. Castile Resources (ASX:CST): “Large Increases in Gold, Copper and Cobalt at Rover 1”.
5 18 March 2020. Blina Minerals (ASX: BDI): “High-Grade Copper and Gold Intersected in Drilling program at Bluebird”.
6 Feb 1995, Posgold. Final Report for Exploration Licence 7693, 2/6/92 to 25/11/94. NTGS Report CR19950192.
***ENDS***
This release was authorised by the Board of Tennant Minerals Ltd.
For enquiries please contact:
Media and Broker enquiries:
Matthew Driscoll
Non-Executive Chairman
M: +61 417 041 725
Stuart Usher
Company Secretary
M: +61 499 900 044
Andrew Rowell
White Noise Communications
M: +61 400 466 226