Mining

Antler deep drilling unearths high-grade copper for New World Resources

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By Danica Cullinane - 
New World Resources ASX NWC Antler deposit copper mine Arizona

New World Resources’ new Antler project hosts a historic resource of 4.66Mt at 1.95% copper, 4.13% zinc, 0.94% lead and 35.9g/t silver.

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Copper explorer New World Resources (ASX: NWC) has revealed “exceptional” assay results from deep drilling at its wholly-owned Antler copper project in Arizona, United States.

The company reported a high-grade 10.7-metre intersection from the deepest hole drilled to date in the South Shoot grading 8.1% copper, 15.6% zinc, 3.2% lead, 107.8 grams per tonne silver and 0.98g/t gold – equating to 13.7% copper equivalent.

Mineralisation at the 11.4-million-tonne Antler deposit continues to remain completely open at depth with already very high grades encountered.

New World managing director and chief executive officer Mike Haynes said the hole intersected the South Shoot 66m down-dip from another recently completed hole that intersected a combined thickness of 26.8m at 7% copper equivalent.

“This shows that these ultra-high grades are present within a substantial area,” he said.

Mr Haynes said the very high-grade results reinforced the company’s view that the Antler deposit could be profitable throughout “almost all commodity price cycles”.

“The project stands to deliver exceptional returns if high copper prices prevail, as forecast, later this decade – by which time Antler is expected to be in full operation,” he added.

The company has reported the continuation of resource expansion drilling while new mine design and pre-feasibility work advances.

New results add to recently updated resource estimate

Last month New World announced a substantial increase to Antler’s mineral resources, currently totalling 11.4Mt at 2.1% copper, 5% zinc, 0.9% lead, 32.9g/t silver and 0.36g/t gold (or 4.1% copper equivalent overall).

This update represented a 48% increase in tonnage and a 44% rise in contained metal on a maiden resource announced in November 2021.

In today’s announcement, New World confirmed the latest assays from the South Shoot were not included in the mineral resource estimate, meaning “these very high-grade results are likely to positively impact the overall grade, the overall tonnes and the quantity of mineralisation classified ‘indicated’ (or better)”.

Future exploration at the Antler project

New World is currently using the updated mineral resource estimate (without the incorporation of these latest assays) to update the scoping study completed in mid-2022 to evaluate the potential development of the project at higher production rate and/or over a longer period.

The new mine design will then be integrated into the ongoing pre-feasibility study, which is concurrently refining multiple other aspects of the project development.

New World said it plans to undertake further drilling in Antler’s Main Shoot, where mineralisation remains open at depth.

The company also plans to focus most of its exploration efforts in early 2023 on drill testing geophysical targets it recently defined over 6km of strike to the north-east of the Antler deposit.