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Havilah Resources strikes 39 metres of 1.62% copper among high-grade hits at East Kalkaroo

Last updated: 07:09 13 Jul 2021 BST, First published: 04:20 13 Jul 2021 BST

Havilah Resources Ltd - Havilah Resources strikes 39 metres of 1.62% copper among high-grade hits at East Kalkaroo
Havilah shares have been as much as 12% higher on the news, up to a two-week high of 23.5 cents.

Havilah Resources Ltd (ASX:HAV) (FRA:FWL) has received high-grade copper hits of up to 39 metres of 1.62% at East Kalkaroo as it continues to strengthen its large Kalkaroo Copper-Gold-Cobalt Project in South Australia.

Assay results from four recent reverse circulation (RC) drill holes at East Kalkaroo have been returned with these holes designed to test for breccia-hosted copper-gold mineralisation at the eastern end of the Kalkaroo orebody.

Apart from the 39-metre intersection from 131 metres, other economic grades of copper sulphide and oxidised gold mineralisation included:

  • 59 metres at 0.83% copper and 0.28 g/t gold from 145 metres;
  • 34 metres at 0.70% copper and 0.78 g/t gold from 100 metres;
  • 15 metres at 0.67% copper from 173 metres; and
  • 15 metres at 1.59 g/t gold from 118 metres.

Taking Kalkaroo to development

Havilah technical director Chris Giles said the latest results were proof of the company’s significant progress at Kalkaroo.

“Our RC drilling at East Kalkaroo has returned some excellent drilling intercepts in highly brecciated (fractured and broken) and veined host rocks,” he said.

“This mineralisation is known to continue to at least 500 metres depth based on an earlier 2001 drill hole.

“These results highlight the possibility of breccia-vein style copper-gold mineralisation below the current Kalkaroo mineral resource that may have bulk tonnage underground mining potential.

“Our priority objective remains advancing the West Kalkaroo gold open pit towards development during 2022.”

Detailed drill results

The drill holes were specifically targeted on the Kalkaroo fault zone at East Kalkaroo to test for deeper copper-gold sulphide mineralisation in areas marginal to the current Kalkaroo mineral resource.

Widespread copper and gold mineralisation was intersected in all drill holes, closely associated with highly brecciated and veined host rocks within or adjacent to the Kalkaroo fault zone.

Location of East Kalkaroo drill holes and the planned West Kalkaroo gold open pit outline (blue), which is being advanced towards development.

All of the East Kalkaroo drill holes ended in brecciated and mineralised material associated with the interpreted position of the major Kalkaroo fault zone.

For these drill holes the assay results are copper-rich in the sulphide zone, with gold mineralisation tending to be patchy and less consistent within the copper mineralised intervals.

However, gold was encountered in the oxidised ore zone and Havilah plans to further test the mineralisation with an additional tier of shallower drill holes.

The assay results are consistent with the few earlier drill holes that intersected this zone, such as the 2008 Havilah diamond drill hole KKDD196A, with results as follows:

  • 33 metres of 1.0% copper and 0.25 g/t gold from 119 metres;
  • 10 metres of 0.47% copper and minor gold from 165 metres;
  • 22 metres of 0.54% copper and 0.14 g/t gold from 209 metres; and
  • 11 metres of 0.47% copper and 0.15 g/t gold from 252 metres.

Of particular significance is an earlier MIM Exploration Ltd diamond hole in the near vicinity that intersected the widest and deepest zone of primary copper-gold mineralisation ever drilled on Kalkaroo deposit, with an intersection of 317.4 metres of 0.26% copper and 0.1 g/t gold from 316 metres to the end of hole.

It represents a potentially large mineralised zone at East Kalkaroo, that has only ever been tested by one drill hole, to a vertical depth of 500 metres.

The high tenor of copper mineralisation intersected at much shallower depths in the drill holes indicates a well-mineralised system, pointing to the potential of the breccia-vein copper sulphide mineralisation at depth.

Project details and next steps

Havilah’s 100%-owned Kalkaroo copper-gold-cobalt deposit contains JORC-compliant resources of 1.1 million tonnes of copper, 3.1 million ounces of gold and 23,200 tonnes of cobalt.

It has an open pit ore reserve of 100.1 million tonnes at a copper equivalent grade of 0.89% of which 90% is proven - making Kalkaroo is one of the largest undeveloped open pit copper-gold deposits in Australia on a copper equivalent ore reserve basis.

Testing of the deep breccia-vein zone is beyond the current depth capacity of Havilah’s RC drilling rig; it will be followed up in due course by contract diamond drilling.

In the meantime, Havilah has mobilised its drilling equipment to the Mutooroo Copper-Cobalt-Gold Project about 70 kilometres to the south of Kalkaroo, to begin next week.

- Daniel Paproth

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