Celsius Resources Ltd (ASX:CLA) has delivered a maiden mineral resource estimate (MRE) of 302 million tonnes at 0.41% copper and 0.11 g/t gold at its Sagay Copper-Gold Project on the Island of Negros in the Philippines.
Notably, this global resource comprises 1.2 million tonnes of contained copper and 1 million ounces of contained gold.
The copper mineralisation is open in all directions in addition to further drill intersections which are not yet included in the resource estimate due to limited drilling information
Consequently, the latest results highlight that the Sagay Project hosts large-scale porphyry copper-gold mineralisation.
Looking ahead, there is potential for internal higher-grade sections which is indicated in a few drill holes completed to date.
“Another significant copper deposit”
Celsius director Peter Hume said: “The copper mineralisation at Sagay is truly large scale, with potential to develop into another significant copper deposit in the Philippines.
“We have only drilled a modest number of holes into this deposit but the large intersections have already defined 1.2 million tonnes of copper.
“With open intersections at multiple positions and in multiple directions, we anticipate that further drilling will lead to substantial growth in the known copper mineralisation.
“We also have some evidence that higher-grade zones could exist within the huge lower-grade copper envelope.
“We look forward to the next phase of exploration which will also focus on investigating the possible extensions of these higher-grade positions closer to the surface.”
Investors have warmed to the results, driving shares as much as 15% higher in early trade to $0.0115.
MRE summary
Drilling at Sagay has broadly defined large-scale copper mineralisation which is interpreted to be a typical porphyry copper style of mineralisation, common throughout the Philippine archipelago.
Mineralisation exists from near-surface down to more than 1.2 kilometres in depth with strike lengths up to 1 kilometre and true widths extending into the hundreds of metres.
The copper mineralisation for the MRE at Sagay is defined by three defined mineralised domains, two of which relate to the main body of copper mineralisation which exists underneath a local topographic high.
This topographic high relates to Nabiga-a Hill with resistive siliceous rocks interpreted to be an eroded lithocap associated with porphyry mineralisation.
A third mineralised domain hosts shallow flat-lying supergene copper mineralisation towards the west of the main orebody and is possibly related to a satellite porphyry mineralisation.
The copper mineralisation at Nabiga-a is broadly constrained by a zone of mineralisation that exceeds 0.2% copper and is trending parallel to the main alteration and related intrusive host rocks.
A lower cut-off grade of 0.2% copper was applied in the reported MRE which aligns broadly with the expected economic limits of the likely mining and processing options considered in this project.
Summary results for the mineral resource estimate at Nabiga-a at a cut-off grade of 0.20% copper.