Freehill Mining kicks-off drilling at El Dorado in hunt for copper and gold
Freehill Mining’s first drill hole is targeting a strong geophysical anomaly that was identified last year from an induced polarisation survey.
High-grade magnetite explorer Freehill Mining (ASX: FHS) has kicked-off drilling at the El Dorado copper-gold project in Chile, which it acquired last year.
The company is undertaking an initial three-hole diamond drilling program for 1,500m, with the rig already drilling the first hole.
This hole is testing a high intensity induced polarisation chargeability anomaly that was identified last year.
The remaining two holes will test targets identified from mapping and a geophysical survey completed in late 2019.
All-up, the initial program is expected to take up to six weeks, with assays anticipated five weeks after completion.
Freehill chief executive officer Paul Davies said drilling at El Dorado was the “next logical step” in advancing the company’s exploration activities at the project.
“Our technical team has done an enormous amount of work to determine the three locations of the drill holes and it is pleasing drilling is underway.”
“El Dorado is prospective for two commodities that have excellent fundamentals and where the pricing outlook is favourable – copper and gold.”
“We look forward to sharing updates as the drill program unfolds,” Mr Davies added. ‘
Mapping and sampling in July last year at El Dorado returned 9.93% and 4.02% copper, 22.1 grams per tonne and 13g/t gold, and 36% and 29% iron.
Yerbas Buenas magnetite project
El Dorado covers 750 hectares and directly adjoins Freehill’s flagship Yerbas Buenas magnetite project.
Although exploring for copper and gold at El Dorado, the asset is also believed prospective for the same high-grade magnetite found at Yerbas Buenas which hosts a magnetite resource of 67 million tonnes.
During the March quarter, Freehill undertook requisite environmental and permitting work to secure approvals for an infill drill program at the YB6 target at Yerbas Buenas.
Planning of an infill drilling program is underway, which will aim to refine both the geological and mine models for the project.
The company is also carrying out additional assaying of drill core from 2019, along with desk top studies.
Additionally, Freehill is evaluating the potential of restarting trial mining a the YB1 deposit with a view to developing a more robust and longer term operation.