Aruma Resources Ltd (ASX:AAJ) has intersected multiple wide, high-grade copper-silver zones in Phase 1 diamond drilling at the Tillex Copper-Silver Project in Ontario, Canada, strengthening its view that the project could host a significant mineralised system.
The company reported standout results from the Timmins mining district project, including:
- 89 metres at 2.04% copper and 12.31 g/t silver from 38.8 metres in hole TX26-004;
- 87 metres at 1.99% copper and 12.63 g/t silver from 30 metres in TX26-002; and
- 59 metres at 1.91% copper and 8.80 g/t silver from 38 metres in TX26-005.
Tillex is Aruma’s core asset and sits in the Timmins mining district, a long-established Canadian mining region. The project hosts copper-silver sulphide mineralisation beneath shallow cover and has been the focus of renewed geophysical and drilling work since Aruma acquired the project.
Moving forward, Aruma plans to begin Phase 2 diamond drilling next month, with about 3,500 to 4,000 metres planned to target strike extensions of the Tillex deposit.
Shallow high-grade hits
The latest assays confirm broad copper-silver mineralisation from shallow depths and build on previous drilling at Tillex, where Aruma is targeting a volcanogenic massive sulphide-style system.
Higher-grade intervals within the broader intercepts included 16.87 metres at 4.02% copper and 16.85 g/t silver from 93 metres in TX26-004, as well as 5.6 metres at 5.36% copper and 56.89 g/t silver from 98 metres in TX26-002.
TX26-005 also returned 17 metres at 2.84% copper and 10.48 g/t silver from 43 metres, plus 9.07 metres at 3.13% copper and 12.80 g/t silver from 80 metres.
Aruma said the results demonstrated continuity of mineralisation and showed the system remained open along strike and at depth.
Managing director Grant Ferguson said the Phase 1 program had delivered “wide, high-grade copper–silver intersections from shallow depths” and indicated the presence of a “large-scale, well-developed mineralised system”.
“The consistency of mineralisation, together with strong geological continuity and the fact that the system remains open along strike and at depth, provides strong confidence in the scale and growth potential of the project,” Ferguson said.
Porphyry mineralisation adds target
The drilling also identified copper mineralisation hosted within feldspar porphyry in the northern section of the project, a horizon that has not been a major focus of historical exploration.
Results from the porphyry included 15.74 metres at 1.01% copper and 22.84 g/t silver from 79.3 metres in TX26-004 and 22.11 metres at 0.61% copper and 2.87 g/t silver from 59.74 metres in TX26-002.
Aruma said the mineralised porphyry appeared spatially associated with the primary argillite-hosted mineralisation that defines the main ore zone.
The company will include representative porphyry samples in upcoming metallurgical testwork to assess whether the unit could contribute to the broader development potential of the project or serve as a vector toward the main mineralised zone.
Tillex Project TX26-005 Diamond Drilling Core, Mineralised Porphyry/Argillite Contact @59m Depth.
VMS model strengthened
The deepest hole in the Phase 1 program, TX26-001, was drilled as a downhole electromagnetic platform hole and confirmed the targeted conductor continued at depth.
Although the hole returned no significant copper-silver intercept, Aruma said anomalous zinc mineralisation, including zones above 500 ppm zinc and up to 0.84% zinc, supported the interpretation that TX26-001 had intersected part of the broader hydrothermal halo of a VMS system.
The company said this zinc anomalism, combined with increasing copper signatures at depth and downhole EM data, provided a vector toward potential higher-grade copper mineralisation down plunge and along strike.
Aruma has drawn geological comparisons between Tillex and the nearby Kidd Creek copper-zinc-silver deposit, while noting Tillex remains at an early exploration stage. It said the project had similarities including steeply dipping mineralised geometry, shallow sulphide mineralisation and open down-plunge potential.
What’s ahead
Aruma plans to begin Phase 2 diamond drilling next month, with about 3,500 to 4,000 metres planned to target strike extensions of the Tillex deposit.
The company will also continue downhole EM work during Phase 2 drilling, begin metallurgical sampling, undertake petrographic analysis, re-assay historical pulps where data gaps exist and progress 3D structural and geological modelling.
Initial metallurgical testwork will assess the primary argillite-hosted mineralisation and the newly recognised mineralised feldspar porphyry, with results to be released when available.