Aruma Resources Ltd (ASX:AAJ) earlier this week reported multiple wide, high-grade copper-silver intersections from Phase 1 diamond drilling at the Tillex Copper-Silver Project in Ontario, Canada, strengthening its confidence that the project could host a significant mineralised system.
Managing director Grant Ferguson told Proactive that the program had delivered a major improvement in Aruma Resources Ltd (ASX:AAJ)’s understanding of the Timmins mining district project, with drilling results supporting historical work and helping define targets for a planned second phase.
Ferguson said the company was “very excited” by Tillex, which is located about 50 kilometres from the Kidd Creek deposit. He said the project had only been tested down to about 135 metres and that recent work had provided a stronger platform for follow-up exploration.
The headline result discussed in the interview was an intersection of up to 89 metres at 2.04% copper with approximately 12.5 grams per tonne silver from 38 metres depth. Ferguson said the result represented a “significant jump” in the company’s knowledge of the project following the Phase 1 diamond drilling program.
He said the latest drilling had also identified the potential role of additional mineralised sources, including a porphyry located within the main mineralisation package. According to Ferguson, that area had been “fairly undiscovered in the past” but had returned consistent copper mineralisation through the holes drilled.
Potential catalysts for Aruma Resources Ltd include the planning and execution of a second phase of drilling, further testing at depth, additional strike-length drilling and continued interpretation of downhole EM results. Ferguson said the EM work had been “extremely useful and encouraging” and had helped the company understand both conductor positions and the mineralogical zoning of the deposit.
He said Tillex appeared to be a VMS-style copper system with a zinc halo, providing what he described as “a great addition” to the company’s targeting tools. Ferguson also said the system remained open along strike and at depth, adding that copper sulphide mineralisation started from around 30 metres below surface.
Ferguson said the company owned the land through patented claims and intended to progress exploration systematically. He also noted that Aruma Resources Ltd had started looking at gold potential in the surrounding area, although he said the main step was to understand the geology of the copper-silver system.
For investors, Ferguson said Tillex was “quite an unusual one for the market” and “very easily understood”, describing Aruma Resources Ltd as a “very small company” that was “very dynamic”.
Interview highlights
- Aruma Resources Ltd has reported Phase 1 diamond drilling results from the Tillex Copper-Silver Project in the Timmins mining district of Ontario, Canada.
- Grant Ferguson said the results had strengthened confidence in historical work and helped guide planning for a second phase of drilling.
- Standout intersections included up to 89 metres at 2.04% copper with approximately 12.5 grams per tonne silver from 38 metres depth.
- Ferguson said the project had only been tested for sulphide mineralisation to about 135 metres depth, leaving scope to test deeper extensions.
- Downhole EM work supported the drilling observations and is being used to help identify conductors, understand mineralogy and improve targeting.
- Ferguson described Tillex as a VMS-style copper deposit with a zinc halo and said the system remained open along strike and at depth.
- The project is located about 50 kilometres from the Kidd Creek deposit, which Ferguson described as a major deep VMS deposit.
- Ferguson said Aruma Resources Ltd owned the land through patented claims and intended to progress further depth and strike-length testing.
- The company has also started looking at potential gold in the surrounding area, although Ferguson said the immediate focus was understanding the geology of the copper-silver system.
Proactive: Welcome back to Proactive Investors. I’m your host, Kerry Stevenson. Grant Ferguson joins us again today. He is the Managing Director of Aruma Resources Ltd, ticker code Aruma Resources Ltd (ASX:AAJ). When we have spoken before, we have talked about the Tillex Copper-Silver Project in the Timmins district of Ontario, Canada. Every time I speak to you, Grant, I have to say that you do what you say you are going to do. Last time we spoke, we talked about the completion of the Phase 1 diamond drilling program. Today, we are discussing some EM survey work and drilling results. For a small market cap company, you seem to be kicking goals. What is the latest news?
Grant Ferguson: Thanks for the opportunity once again, Kerry. We are here to try and build value for the company, and we are very excited by this project. The project is located about 50 kilometres away from Kidd Creek, which is the world’s deepest famous deposit, and we have a fantastic project sitting close to it. It has only been tested down to about 135 metres.
There has been a lot of action since we last spoke. We have had the downhole EM results come out, and that has been extremely useful and encouraging. Now we have the drill hole results for the holes we have drilled. We are very excited and pleased to see how these have helped not only to provide confidence in the historical work, but also to help us significantly in identifying where we need to be going as we start planning for the second phase of drilling.
The intersections we are getting are up to 89 metres at 2.04% copper with approximately 12.5 grams per tonne silver, and that is only from 38 metres depth. There has been quite a significant jump in our knowledge from first-hand experience now that we have completed the diamond drilling program.
What we also have is the role that some potential additional ore sources can provide, such as a porphyry located within the main mineralisation package, which has been fairly undiscovered in the past. It has come back quite consistently mineralised with copper through the holes we have drilled.
It has been a very exciting project, and we are even more excited for what is coming up. The downhole EM has further supported the observations we are finding with the drilling — or, in fact, the drilling is supporting the EM observations. Even with our deep hole, which was off target, we are looking for the conductor zone that is helping us identify not only where the conductors we are targeting are, but also helping us understand the mineralogy and potential zonation of the copper deposit. It is a VMS style, and we have some zinc halo there, which gives us a great addition to our targeting tools.
It has been a wonderful result that we have received from both the drilling and the EM.
Proactive: I do not want to take away from this because over 2% copper is a very good result. How far away are you from Kirkland Lake? From what I have looked at in research, all around you is gold. But whenever you and I talk, we talk copper and silver. I know this is a little off topic, but it seems to me there is a lot of high-grade gold around you as well. Are you seeing any signs of that, or is this a unique deposit?
Grant Ferguson: It is a little bit unusual where it sits. We have seen a little bit of copper mineralisation elsewhere in the immediate area, but it has not been to the level of Tillex. When I say that, I mean the immediate area. But only 50 kilometres to the west of us is the Kidd Creek deposit.
That was recently closed in a transaction from Glencore and is now owned by Discovery Silver (TSX-V:DSV, OTCQX:DSVSF). It was being planned to close down in a staged process at the end of this year or early next year. Discovery Silver has now stated in the latest press release that it is very excited by the exposure to critical minerals. It is doing studies to see whether it can extend it further, and it is also doing some drilling.
That is down to three kilometres deep where mining is taking place. It is, if not the world’s deepest VMS deposit being mined, certainly very significant. There is quite a significant amount of copper in VMS styles, and they do have the propensity to occur in clusters. There are other little copper projects that could be developed in the area, and that is what we are hoping. We are certainly pushing very hard to make sure we are at the forefront of the development of an emerging VMS project.
As for the gold, yes, we do have gold all around us, and we have started to look at that as well. That is part of our forward planning. The big step for us, though, is to understand the geology for this style of project. If there is a little bit of gold there, which we will investigate further, then we will certainly make sure shareholders and the public are aware of it.
Proactive: What would you like investors to know? Why do you think investors should sit up and take notice right now? As I said at the start, you are only a small market cap at the moment, about $10 million. What do you think investors are missing?
Grant Ferguson: It would have to be one of the few copper sulphide projects starting from 30 metres below surface. It has only been tested down to 135 metres for sulphide mineralisation, and it has a lot of blue sky.
We own the land as well with the patented claims. We have plans to do a lot more in testing the depth, but we also have a lot more strike length now, with the confidence we have, to start progressing forward in a systematic way and drill this project out.
I think it is quite an unusual one for the market, and it is very easily understood. We are going to make sure everyone is aware of what our plans are and when we execute them. As I say, we are a very small company and very dynamic.
Proactive: You certainly are, and I love the fact that you come on and always give us the updates. Grant, it is great to have you back on Proactive Investors once again. Congratulations on all the work that you are doing and the results you are getting. We look forward to the next update.
Grant Ferguson: Thanks, Kerry.