Caravel Minerals continues to boost confidence in Bindi copper deposit
New drilling results at Caravel Minerals’ namesake WA project have significantly extended the copper body down dip.
Results from drilling at Caravel Minerals’ (ASX: CVV) Bindi deposit continue to be consistent with the company’s geological model and plans to identify higher-grade zones.
Caravel has revealed further assays from reverse circulation drilling at Bindi which it says continue to show wide mineralised zones in the East Limb of the deposit and confirm visual estimates reported mid last month.
Highlight assays were 104m at 0.29% copper from 32m, including 20m at 0.5% copper from 68m; 64m at 0.32% copper from 28m; and 90m at 0.29% copper from 78m.
Caravel managing director Steve Abbott said the latest assays to support the company’s ongoing confidence in Bindi.
“These results will be incorporated in a resource estimate update and the higher-grade zones will be a key focus in the current pre-feasibility studies.”
The RC program at Bindi was designed to locate higher grade material and confirm the wide occurrence of copper in shallower parts of the deposit.
Caravel currently has two RC and two diamond drill rigs operating on site.
Advancing Caravel copper project
Bindi is part of the company’s wider Caravel copper project in Western Australia and is close to major highways, power and other requisite infrastructure, including a local workforce.
According to Caravel, the asset is one of Australia’s largest undeveloped copper projects with a resource of 662Mt at 0.28% copper for 1.86Mt of contained metal.
A scoping study supports the potential for an initial 25 year mine life based on the current resource.
The study assumes an open pit bulk mining operation with a standard flowsheet for processing that would generate a “clean and readily marketable concentrate”.
Exploration is ongoing at the project with numerous targets pinpointed across a 30km mineralised trend.
At present, drilling is targeting extensions to the Bindi resource, while following up a new zone at Dasher and testing extensions at Ninan Central.
The pre-feasibility study that is underway is scheduled for release late this year with a resource update due in the September quarter.