- 01First hole shows 429m of copper-gold-style mineralisation.
- 02Assays due within two months; three follow-up holes planned.
LinQ Minerals (ASX: LNQ) has reported the discovery of a potentially large mineralised system in drilling of the first hole at the Gidginbung South target within its Gilmore copper-gold project in the Macquarie Arc of New South Wales.
Initial visual assessment of core from the hole confirmed the presence of high sulphidation-style epithermal and porphyry vein-style mineralisation from 321 metres to 750.3m (end of hole) beneath younger rock cover, with a mineralised zone of 429m.
The discovery lies 800m south of the previously known southern limit of similar mineralisation at the Gidginbung deposit, and 1.6 kilometres south-west of similar porphyry mineralisation at LinQ’s Dam copper-gold deposit.
The hole remains open in all directions for extension on the receipt of final assays within the next two months which are expected to determine its economic significance.
The company has planned a further three holes up to 1,000m in depth at Gidginbung South.
Premier Gold-Copper Province
LinQ’s flagship Gilmore project is situated within the Macquarie Arc province in the Lachlan Fold Belt, recognised as Australia’s premier porphyry gold-copper province and home to multiple large-scale operating mines.
The company holds 597 square kilometres of tenements with a 60km belt comprising more than 20 known prospects and six deposits.
The extensive tenement package positions LinQ as a major player in the region offering advanced brownfield and greenfield opportunities for copper-gold porphyry and epithermal gold discoveries.
Gilmore hosts a global mineral resource estimate of 516 million tonnes containing 3.7 million ounces gold and 1.2Mt copper metal.
'Aggressive Drilling Campaign'
“This first hole at Gidginbung South could be a significant breakthrough discovery for LinQ as we pursue an aggressive drilling campaign to prove that the Gilmore project has the potential to be the next major economic mining centre in the Macquarie Arc,” technical director John Holliday said.
“It is possible that we have discovered the core part of a large high sulphidation epithermal-porphyry system for which Gidginbung and the Dam are smaller components — in geologic terms, this is potentially a big mineralised system.”
Gidginbung South was initially identified from magnetic data, records of pyrite, and the observation of strong epithermal-style alteration in a shallow historic drill hole to 465m depth, located about 200m from the drilled hole.
An induced polarisation survey located a chargeability anomaly to add confidence to drill planning and the core of the anomaly, which lies about 200m east of the new mineralisation, will be tested in the company's next drilling program.
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