Godolphin Resources is set to kick off a maiden drilling program at its Copper Hill East project located 35km north of Orange in NSW and only 60km south of Alkane’s venerated Boda copper-gold discovery. A recent soil sampling program defined a coherent gold and copper anomaly at the project with copper assays grading up to 817 parts per million.
Field work has also turned up native copper at surface which, according to the company, hints at a stratabound source to the mineralisation.
Godolphin’s portfolio of projects covers a range of highly prospective areas across the Lachlan fold belt, a terrane that is host to several world-class copper-gold deposits including Cadia-Ridgeway and Alkane’s much-heralded Boda discovery.
Godolphin will focus on two main areas at its Copper Hill East project – the northern and southern prospects, where detailed ground magnetics were also recently completed.
Detailed mapping and infill sampling by the company in the northern area has outlined a 500m by 500m zone with alteration and mineralisation characteristic of porphyry-style deposits.
Godolphin said that large, discrete, magnetic anomalies in the north are also coincident with a gold and copper anomalism.
Geological mapping across the southern anomaly has defined a massive 14-hectare area of intriguing alteration that is associated with native copper, at surface.
The company ran a detailed microscopic investigation of the rocks containing the native copper and found the mineralisation is hosted in altered basaltic rocks.
Management said the copper mineralisation is likely to be primary and looks to be “stratabound”, or in situ.
The mineralisation in the southern Copper Hill East project looks to be remarkably similar to Keewanawan-type copper deposits of Michigan in the US.
According to Michigan State University, the Keewanawan-type native copper deposits are hosted in basaltic rocks.
Over 11 billion pounds of metallic copper has been churned out from these native-copper deposits in this region of the US, according to the MSU.
The native copper mineralisation and alteration in the southern part of Copper Hill East trends in a north-westerly direction, which is coincident with structures identified in the ground magnetic survey.
All approvals are in place for the drilling to kick off at Copper Hill East now and the company plans to send the rig to the project after the completion of the second phase of drilling at its Mt Aubrey project.
Ten holes are planned in the southern area, where the native copper has been identified and two RC holes are planned in the northern area, testing a coincident geochemical and magnetic anomaly at depth.
Drilling is expected to commence in August and with results to follow soon after.
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By Matt Birney
