PolarX Ltd (ASX:PXX)’s recent “exceptional” drilling results from the Caribou Dome Project in Alaska have prompted the company to conduct a full review of its existing resource model, with a view to growing the high-grade copper inventory.
The existing Caribou Dome mineral resource estimate is 2.8 million tonnes at 3.1% copper.
PolarX sees the potential to increase the average grade and tonnage, and a new drilling campaign is now in the works.
Results exceeded modelling
This new direction has been prompted by recent assays that demonstrated that copper grades exceeded those predicted by the block model used for the existing mineral resource estimate.
The results, which the company described as "exceptional", also confirmed the deposit is open at depth and along strike from these high-grade zones.
In light of the positive findings, PolarX has commenced a full review of the resource model to include a follow-up drilling campaign to extend the known mineralisation.
Recently reported results highlighted thick zones of massive sulphide mineralisation of up to 14.8% copper with silver credits, shown below:
PolarX is analysing the viability of trucking high-grade mineralisation from Caribou Dome to a potential processing plant at its fully owned Zackly copper-gold deposit.
Background to strategy
PolarX drilled four holes at Caribou Dome early in the second half of last year to provide samples of copper mineralisation for metallurgical test-work.
The holes were drilled into zones of copper mineralisation hosted in massive to semi-massive sulphides with locations exactly as predicted by the resource block model used for resource estimation in April 2017.
Initial evaluation of the results also found that the very high-grade mineralisation has not been closed off at depth or along strike.
Mineralisation remains open below two lenses of copper sulphides which assayed 19.1 metres at 7.0% copper and 11.2 g/t silver, and 5.7 metres at 7.3% copper and 7.5 g/t silver.
These intersections also remain open along strike to the east, and the new program of drilling is being designed to test these and other extensions to the known high-grade copper mineralisation.
PolarX executive chair Mark Bojanjac said: “These results show there is scope for significant growth in the Caribou Dome resource.
“The high grades and the density of the mineralisation exceed our resource model and it remains open along strike and at depth”.