Mining

DGO Gold extends Zambian copper belt-style mineralisation on Investigator Resources’ ground

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By Robin Bromby - 
Investigator Resources ASX IVR Stuart Shelf copper gold DGO

The deal with DGO Gold enables Investigator Resources to unlock the potential of its Stuart Shelf tenements while the company focuses on its Paris silver project.

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DGO Gold (ASX: DGO) has confirmed copper mineralisation occurs over “significant” strike at the Pernatty project in South Australia.

This copper-cobalt mineralisation lies over 15km of strike and is located 55km southwest of the Carrapateena copper-gold mine operated by OZ Minerals (ASX: OZL). 

Under an agreement with silver play Investigator Resources (ASX: IVR), DGO is spending $6.36 million over five years to earn an 80% stake in Pernatty. 

In early October, DGO kicked off a drilling program at Pernatty, and the planned 49 widely spaced holes (for 6,340m) have now been completed.

Drilling aimed to test the Zambian copper belt-style mineralisation lying under shallow cover within the Stuart Shelf.

Targeting 100km-plus of mineralisation 

In March, DGO had drilled 44 RC holes for 3,733m at Pernatty, with copper grades above 0.1% intersected in all three areas drilled in the target Transition Zone. 

Overall, DGO is targeting a 100km-plus zone at Pernatty. 

The most recent program has defined a 15km-long Transition Zone at Moseley.

The best intersections were 4m at 0.57% copper and 242 parts per million cobalt (or 0.86% copper equivalent) and 4m at 0.28% copper and 326ppm cobalt (0.68% copper equivalent).

DGO chief executive officer Eduard Eshuys says the latest drilling has confirmed that copper mineralisation occurs over significant strike lengths within the Transition Zone.

“The next phase of exploration will focus on identifying and testing areas where significant copper mineralisation is expected.”

Project area has similarities to Central African Copperbelt

The company has said previously that the basin setting at Pernatty has many similarities with the edges of the Katangan Basin in the Central African Copperbelt which hosts such deposits as Chambishi, which contains 40Mt at 2.6% copper. 

The former British-owned minerals house Selection Trust in 1976 intersected, mineralisation immediately east of Pernatty, reporting 1.9m at 1.7% copper from 185m down hole when exploring for sedimentary copper, but this was not adequately followed up before the tenement was relinquished in 1978. 

DGO’s consultant, Stuart Bull, an expert in Zambian copper belt-style mineralisation deposits has identified a 250m strike length of Transition Zone sediments.