Coda Minerals has backed up its high-profile Emmie Bluff IOCG discovery in South Australia’s revered Gawler Craton with recent drilling returning copper mineralisation over more than 35 metres width including an impressive 28.14m at 1.21 per cent copper, 0.37 grams per tonne gold and 2.3 g/t silver from 810.79m down-hole. The company says individual assays kick as high as 5.39 per cent copper within the sulphide zone.
Additional intersections within the spectacular chalcopyrite-bornite-rich sulphide zones include 2.57m at 2.11 per cent copper and 13.2 g/t silver from 842.03m and 4.69m at 1.01 per cent copper and 3.6 g/t silver from 797.45m down-hole.
The company says the assay results correlate well with the earlier visual logging of drill core, further validating its rapidly developing mineralisation model.
Coda Minerals Chief Executive Officer Chris Stevens said:“These results provide the first quantitative evidence of IOCG copper-gold mineralisation at Emmie Bluff Deeps. These assays are consistent with what we would expect from chalcopyrite zones within a broader IOCG system. They also represent the best intersections yet known from the Emmie Bluff Deeps prospect, including across many years of exploration by earlier companies. Together, they significantly increase our confidence in the project and further de-risk the potential opportunity from Emmie Bluff Deeps.”
The company’s iron oxide-copper-gold discovery at Emmie Bluff put a rocket underneath Coda’s share price. The copper explorer’s stock leapt from just 37c in early June to more than $1.25 today, driving a more than three-fold increase in Coda’s market capitalisation which now stands at over $100 million.
Coda has recently made the most of its success, having completed an oversubscribed capital raise that boosted its cash balance to more than $21 million. The funds are now be used to ramp up the company’s exploration program with four diamond rigs now working their magic on site at Emmie Bluff.
Two of the rigs at Emmie Bluff are currently drilling out the shallower sedimentary hosted copper deposit that hosts an exploration target of between 46.1 and 76.8 million tonnes grading at 0.3 to 1.6 per cent copper and 5 to 19 grams per tonne silver. The two additional rigs are now dedicated to systematically testing the deeper iron-oxide copper gold discovery.
Interestingly, two “wedge” holes into the IOCG target have already been completed as splays from Coda’s maiden drill hole with visual logging confirming the presence of intrusive lithologies and sulphidic mineralisation.
The company has now kicked off a third wedge from this “mother” hole as it continues to test the IOCG system whilst the second rig is ploughing a second 1,100m deep drill hole into the target about 450m north of its maiden drill hole. The distance between these two first-phase drill holes gives an indication of the potential size and scope of the Emmie Bluff discovery.
Coda now looks to have the bit between its teeth and with four rigs drilling up a storm in South Australia’s resurgent Gawler Craton, pundits can look forward to an exciting flow of copper results in the weeks ahead as the company continues to uncover what is shaping up as one of this year’s highest profile discoveries.
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By Matt Birney
