PolarX Ltd (ASX:PXX) has released a maiden JORC inferred resource for the Zackly copper-gold deposit at its Alaska Range Project in Alaska.
The company has also outlined plans to commence extensive drilling at several prospects in the coming quarter.
The maiden resource comprises 3.4 million tonnes grading 1.2% copper plus 2.0 g/t gold and 14.0 g/t silver from the surface.
Shares traded almost 14% higher at 13 cents in early trade.
Managing director Frazer Tabaert said: “The fact that we have readily upgraded the resource to JORC standard while maintaining the same quantity of contained metal further underpins our confidence in the potential to significantly expand the project,”
Scope for resource expansion
Zackly remains open for extension along strike and at depth.
The resource delineation stemmed from PolarX’s maiden drilling program at the Alaska Range Project.
It included 41,200 tonnes of copper and 213,000 ounces of gold, validating the historical non-JORC resource estimates previously defined at Zackly.
Tabeart said: “There is now overwhelming evidence that the style of mineralisation and the geological setting is entirely consistent with the presence of large systems which can host truly world-class copper-gold porphyry intrusions.”
Part of much larger resource
Zackly is one of several deposits and prospects at the Alaska Range Project, where 35 kilometres of strike has been outlined with high-grade gold and copper from the surface.
The Caribou Dome deposit, which occurs 20 kilometres southwest of Zackly, has a JORC resource of 2.8 million tonnes at 3.1% copper.
READ: PolarX advancing copper-gold assets in Alaska, maiden JORC resource at Zackly pending
PolarX has also identified other prospects within the project area, with high-grade outcropping copper and gold in rock samples at established undrilled porphyry targets.
The company is finalising further exploration and drilling programs to grow the resources at Zackly and Caribou Dome, and to test the Mars and Moonwalk prospects.
This drilling is scheduled to start in the coming quarter.