Qld government grants to help Red Metal drill big copper-gold targets
Red Metal is poised to unlock the vast mineral potential of its Queensland copper-gold projects, thanks to two collaborative drilling grants worth a total $400,000 from the Queensland Government.
The funds are set to spearhead the company's proof-of-concept drilling program at two highly prospective iron oxide-copper-gold projects at its Gulf and Three Ways prospects.
The company says its high-impact drill testing on geophysical targets in the Mount Isa terrain will be the first deep testing of the prospects, which are in a region renowned for hosting world-class base metal deposits.
Red Metal has zeroed in on its GT9 target at Gulf, a compelling gravity anomaly that mirrors the scale and intensity of BHP's giant Oak Dam copper-gold deposit in South Australia. Oak Dam has 1.4 billion tonnes of resources, including 220 million tonnes at 2 per cent copper and 0.5 grams per tonne (g/t) gold.
Historic drilling at Gulf has already uncovered hematite breccias - key indicators of IOCG systems - lending weight to the company's bold claim that the 'must-drill' target suggests the potential for a game-changing discovery akin to Oak Dam.
At Red Metal's Three Ways project 100 kilometres south of Gulf, the company is preparing to drill a 1.7km-long magnetic target, which coincides with a strong conductance anomaly that Red Metal says is indicative of Mount Isa-style sedimentary-hosted copper mineralisation.
Located in a newly identified basin near a major fault zone, Three Ways copper sulphidic host rocks and proximity to a regional structure make it a prime property for big-scale base metal deposits.
Heritage surveys for both projects are slated for June, paving the way for drilling to kick off in August.
Red Metal's managing director Rob Rutherford recently noted: 'If we hit a huge IOCG breccia, it could be a write-your-own-cheque scenario for a junior like us.'
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