East Star Resources PLC (LSE:EST) announced positive results from a helicopter electromagnetic (HEM) survey conducted over its licences in the Rudny Altai volcanogenic massive sulphide (VMS) belt in Eastern Kazakhstan.
The survey was conducted over 614.3km2 to identify hidden or buried VMS ore deposits, which are one of the richest sources of metals such as copper, lead, and zinc.
"We are delighted to have identified a number of strong electromagnetic anomalies, potentially indicating new VMS discoveries to be made under shallow cover,” said chief executive Alex Walker.
“Detailed processing and interpretation of the data to refine targets for follow up investigation has already begun. Certain targets align with areas where historic operating mines exist and where geochemical sampling gave anomalous base metals results, and this will aid interpretation and identification of drill targets.”
The gold, rare earths and copper exploration company said the survey was completed faster than expected and significantly under budget.
East Star has two licences in the Rudny Altai region, one of the largest VMS provinces in the world.
HEM is the principal technology used in the Paterson province of Western Australia which was used to discover Rio Tinto's Winu copper-gold deposit and Greatland Gold PLC (AIM:GGP, OTC:GRLGF)/Newcrest Mining Ltd's Havieron gold-copper deposit.
“This is a great example of East Star applying modern geophysical technology, which has been used to discover significant VMS deposits elsewhere in the world, to this prolific but underexplored VMS region of Kazakhstan,” said Walker.