Alice Queen Ltd (ASX:AQX) has received a surprise high-grade copper hit during diamond core drilling at Jehda-1 target, a key prospect within a larger scale dipole-dipole induced polarisation (DDIP) anomaly at the Horn Island Gold Project in Queensland’s Torres Strait.
The explorer reported gold results from three diamond holes, covering around 1,100 metres, which have extended the gold zone to depth and it remains open.
Ultimately, AQX’s program returned a high-grade intersection within a broad gold zone, as well as some high-grade copper, such as:
19 metres at 0.3 g/t gold from 171 metres, including 1-metre at 3.5 g/t gold from 181 metres and 1-metre at 3% copper from 173 metres.
The remaining multi-element assays from Alice Queen’s core samples are pending and expected in roughly a month’s time.
Horn Island “getting larger”
Commenting on the new assays, Alice Queen managing director Andrew Buxton said the company firmly believed that Horn Island would host multiple deposits, ultimately representing between 2 and 3 million gold ounces.
“Excitingly also, high-grade copper has appeared at depth and is adjacent to an elevated copper zone at surface, east of where this current drill program has occurred,” Buxton explained.
“With gold intersected in each hole, the gold zone at the Southern Silicified Ridge (SSR) on Horn Island is only getting larger, extending to depth and remains open.”
Shares are trading 25% higher at $0.005.
What do the results say?
Alice Queen’s new drilling assays come from the Jedha-1 target, which forms part of Horn Island’s SSR prospect.
Importantly, SSR’s large-scale geophysical anomaly has a coincidental surface gold and intrusion-related gold pathfinder anomalism.
As a result, Alice Queen believes this represents an advancing and separate focus area, roughly 2.5 kilometres southwest of the existing 524,000-ounce Horn Island gold resource.
Thanks to the drill program, AQX knows the gold system at the SSR is persistent to 200 metres deep over 1 kilometres of strike.
The system remains open at depth and along strike, while further target areas remain untested from the previously identified geophysical anomaly and coincident surface gold expression over a 5-kilometre strike extent.
Some of the best gold hits include:
- 1-metre at 0.8 g/t gold from 13 metres;
- 5 metres at 0.9 g/t from 70 metres, including 1-metre at 2.4 g/t from 73 metres;
- 3 metres at 0.7 g/t from 182 metres, including 1-metre at 1.6 g/t from 184 metres;
- 3 metres at 1.2 g/t from 59 metres, including 1-metre at 3 g/t from 60 metres;
- 12 metres at 0.5 g/t from surface, including 4 metres at 4.1 g/ from surface;
- 3 metres at 1.1 g/t from 41 metres, including 1-metre at 2.9 g/t from 41 metres;
- 9 metres at 0.5 g/t from 157 metres, including 1-metre at 4.6 g/t from 165 metres;
- 19 metres at 0.3 g/t from 171 metres, including 1-metre at 3.5 g/t from 181 metres and including 1-metre at 3.0% copper from 173 metres; and
- 1-metre at 4.2 g/t from 244 metres.