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New World locks in satellite targets to bolster 11.4Mt Antler copper flagship
Special Report: New World Resources plans to resume exploration drilling next month at its high-grade Antler copper project in Arizona, … Read More
The…
- Exploration drilling at Antler set to resume in early October 2023
- Company plans to advance project into production ASAP
- Drilling will focus on shallow satellite targets to enhance project economics
- Mine development and permitting underway
New World Resources plans to resume exploration drilling next month at its high-grade Antler copper project in Arizona, USA.
During the past eight months, New World Resources (ASX:NWC) has evaluated the optimal development pathway for the deposit, which currently contains 11.4Mt at 2.1% copper, 5.0% zinc, 0.9% lead, 32.9g/t silver and 0.36g/t gold (11.4Mt at 4.1% copper-equivalent).
In light of this near-term development focus, exploration drilling – limited to just 600m of strike at the Antler deposit itself – was temporarily suspended.
“Having focused on mine development and permitting work over the past 6-8 months, we are excited to be planning holes again, in advance of resuming exploration drilling at the high-grade Antler Copper Project in the very near term,” New World Resources (ASX:NWC) MD Mike Haynes said.
“We have two clear corporate objectives:
- To advance the Antler Copper Deposit to production as quickly as practicable; and
- To further increase the size of the resource base at (a) the Antler Copper Project; and (b) within trucking distance of Antler.
“We continue to make excellent progress with the former goal – with the source of process water now established and initial mine permit applications set to be submitted in the coming weeks.”
With respect to the latter goal, over the past 12 months NWC has delineated numerous very high-quality, completely untested exploration targets.
“These could further enhance the already very robust potential economics of developing the 11.4Mt high-grade resource at the Antler Copper Deposit”, Haynes said.
“In light of this, we are very excited to be on the cusp of drill testing these high-priority targets for the first time.”
Near-mine satellite targets the focus
Despite the clear opportunity to grow the resource at depth (with the deepest hole drilled to date intersecting 21.3m at 5.3% copper-equivalent 850m below surface) further drilling to test for down-dip extensions of both the Main and South Shoots at the Antler deposit has been deferred, given that the delineation of additional resources at depth is unlikely to impact the mining schedule until the later years of an initial mining operation.
Instead, the company’s recent focus has been on delineating high-quality ‘near-mine’ or satellite targets where additional shallow resources may be discovered.
These targets include multiple very strong coincident copper-in-soil geochemistry/IP chargeability anomalies that extend over >3,000m of strike to the north-east of the Antler Deposit including the Rattlesnake Ridge, Copper Knob, Insulator, and West World prospects.
Despite extensive mineralisation and shallow historical workings present at surface along this entire >3,000m-long corridor, there are no records of any drilling having been undertaken to test any of these target areas previously, the company says.
Additionally, a recently discovered very strong, 1.2×1.0km IP chargeability anomaly at the nearby Javelin VMS Project area will be drill-tested for the first time – a potential source of satellite ore to Antler.
Mine development and permitting underway
NWC says mine development and permitting work continues to progress on schedule.
The preparation of a Mine Plan of Operations – a key document required to commence the longest lead-time mine permit approval process – is nearing completion and remains on schedule for submission to the Bureau of Land Management, the Federal Government agency that regulates activities on all Federal lands in the vicinity of the project, in the coming weeks.
Pre-feasibility study work continues and is on scheduled to be completed in late 2023.
This article was developed in collaboration with New World Resources, a Stockhead advertiser at the time of publishing.
This article does not constitute financial product advice. You should consider obtaining independent advice before making any financial decisions.
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