Aeris Resources has intersected copper mineralisation 75m below the current resource of its Avoca Tank deposit in New South Wales.
Previous Avoca Tank drilling had traced the mineralised system 350m down-plunge, however diamond drill hole TATD046 has deepened the deposit’s potential.
TATD046 intersected three sulphide horizons, including a 2.2m-thick massive to semi-massive sulphide lens from 514.5m down-hole. 18m of weakly-disseminated sulphide mineralisation was intersected from 559m down-hole.
As the company continues to develop Avoca Tank, Aeris executive chairman Andre Labuschagne said the findings have arrived at just the right time.
“We are currently constructing the Avoca Tank underground mine, with production due to commence in the fourth quarter of the 2023 financial year (FY23),” he said.
“Intersecting massive sulphides 75m below the current Avoca Tank mineral resource is a fantastic outcome. A down-hole EM (electromagnetic) survey was also completed and has detected a large bedrock conductor, most of which remains untested.
“We believe there is significant scope to increase the Avoca Tank mineral resource with further drilling, which will commence in FY23 after underground access development has been completed.”
Avoca Tank is located within Aeris’ Tritton tenement package, positioned adjacent to the Tritton copper operations and comprising seven exploration and four mining licenses spanning 2330 square kilometres.
The Tritton tenement package is known for producing deposits with long down-plunge dimensions. The Tritton, Constellation, Murrawombie and Kurrajong deposits have all been traced over 1000m down-plunge.
Aeris expects to produce between 18,500 and 19,500 tonnes of copper from Tritton in the 2022 financial year (FY22). The company also aims to produce between 64,000 and 66,000 ounces of gold from its Cracow gold operation in Queensland in FY22.