PolarX Ltd (ASX:PXX) has intersected visible copper oxide and gold mineralisation in the initial holes of a new drilling program at the Zackly copper-gold deposit in Alaska.
The drilling hit a 55 metre down-hole width of visible copper oxide mineralisation 850 metres along strike to the east of the Zackly resource, which is within the Alaska Range project.
Visible gold mineralisation was intersected 300 metres to the east of the resource.
The drill program comprises 25 holes for a total of around 5,000 metres of core drilling and aims to substantially extend the Zackly resource along strike and down-dip.
The visible copper mineralisation was seen commencing near the surface, below 2.5 metres of transported overburden.
It forms a broadly mineralised zone with variable amounts of copper oxides extending from 2.5 metres to 57.14 metres down-hole.
READ: PolarX begins drilling to expand copper-gold resource in Alaska
The width of the mineralisation observed in the drill hole indicates a potential large mineralised system.
Visible gold mineralisation was visible from 100.5 metres down-hole within a chloritised, mineralised breccia zone, around 0.9 metres thick.
Both holes extend the known mineralisation towards a prominent magnetic feature in the southeast of the Zackly deposit, which PolarX believes could be the porphyry source of mineralisation found to date.
Approaching economic scale
Along with Zackly, the Alaska Range project also includes the Caribou Dome deposit, which has a resource of 2.8 million tonnes at 3.1% copper for 85,500 tonnes of copper metal.
PolarX is delineating a sufficient high-grade copper-gold resource inventory between Zackly and Caribou Dome to underpin feasibility studies on combined or stand-alone operations.
The company aims to substantially increase the inferred resource at Zackly and is drilling towards what it believes may be a deeper and much larger buried porphyry source.