Havilah Resources Ltd (ASX:HAV) has completed two large diameter diamond core holes at the North Portia Copper-Gold Project in South Australia to provide samples for test work.
The PQ3 drill core samples of 83 millimetres in diameter will be used for metallurgical test work and geotechnical analysis.
This work forms part of a pre-feasibility study (PFS) for the project being carried out under an MOU signed with the company’s mining partner, Consolidated Mining and Civil Pty Ltd (CMC).
READ: Havilah Resources adds cobalt to its South Australian copper-gold project
North Portia is adjacent to Havilah’s operating Portia Gold Project and close to the mining centre of Broken Hill.
The holes were sited to intersect representative oxidised gold saprolite and underlying supergene copper-gold sulphide ore types in different parts of the deposit.
A long section showing the North Portia deposit in relation to the Portia pit.
This program was designed to improve the level of confidence in previous test work on reverse circulation drill samples.
Portia plant to be upgraded
Results will form the basis for upgrading the existing Portia gold processing plant to treat the oxidised gold ore and the copper sulphide ore from North Portia deposit.
Representative geotechnical samples have also been collected from saprolite material in the core.
These will be forwarded to a laboratory for physical properties testing, including shear strength tests.
This data will supplement the extensive geotechnical database from the Portia open pit and will enhance optimisation of the North Portia open pit design.
Resource being re-estimated
Havilah has also been re-estimating the North Portia resource incorporating 56 infill holes drilled over the past two years.
The aim is to gain a greater degree of confidence in mineral resources in the upper part of the deposit within the initial five-year conceptual open pit.
It is expected that a revised resource estimate, which will include cobalt, will be released once the verification is completed.
North Portia contains a JORC-compliant indicated and inferred resource estimate of 11.3 million tonnes at 0.89% copper, 0.64 g/t gold and 500 ppm molybdenum.
Under the MOU, CMC and Havilah have a shared work program designed to provide key information to assist the partners to determine a mutually acceptable arrangement that will lead to the development of North Portia at the earliest time.
READ: Havilah Resources reviews draft PFS for copper project
Havilah is also advancing its flagship Kalkaroo Copper-Gold Project which hosts at least 1.1 million tonnes of copper and 2.6 million ounces of gold across the inferred, indicated and measured categories.