Mining

Odin Metals commences drilling at Koonenberry amid mounting demand and bullish outlook for copper

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By Lorna Nicholas - 
Odin Metals ASX ODM copper Koonenberry Project Grasmere Cymbric Vale

Odin Metals kicked off a 5,000m reverse circulation program at Koonenberry at the end of October.

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With copper prices anticipated to continue rising due to tight supplies and high demand, Odin Metals (ASX: ODM) is exploring for the commodity and other critical metals at its Koonenberry project in a “significantly underexplored” region in New South Wales.

Odin describes Koonenberry as a “district scale” asset that covers 2,600 square kilometres of ground about 80km east of the state’s major Broken Hill mining centre.

The project comprises five exploration licences and contains 150km of strike along the Koonenberry Belt and is believed to be prospective for volcanogenic massive sulphide (VMS) hosted copper and magmatic nickel-copper and platinum group elements.

Within Koonenberry, Odin has identified three primary targets – Grasmere, Cymbric Vale and Wertago.

Grasmere deposit

Previous drilling at the more advanced Grasmere deposit has firmed up a historic JORC 2004 resource of 5.75 million tonnes grading 1.03% copper, 0.35% zinc, 2.3 grams per tonne silver and 0.05g/t gold.

Better intercepts from historic drilling were 9m at 4.38% copper from 46m, 7m at 3.04% copper from 53m, and 9.75m at 2.25% copper and 0.81% zinc from 120m.“The Grasmere deposit is the largest copper rich massive sulphide mineralised zone identified to-date in western New South Wales and importantly the resource sits within an interpreted 25km long VMS trend that remains with no previous exploration or drill testing other than at the Grasmere resource,” Odin stated.

Target generation

An airborne electromagnetic (EM) survey was completed across 1,150sq km at Koonenberry and resulted in the identification of 222 targets.

Odin has evaluated the targets with six now deemed as priority one. A further 45 have been designated priority two and 171 categorised as priority three.

At Grasmere, EM anomalies were uncovered along strike and in proximity to known mineralisation. Drilling underway

A 5,000m reverse circulation drilling program kicked off last month and will focus on Grasmere and Cymbric Vale.

The program aims to test the previous high-grade intercepts at Grasmere. It will also follow up on two former holes at Cymbric Vale, which has been described as in a similar geological setting to Grasmere.

The company is also very excited by Cymbric Vale, where the EM survey identified an anomaly measuring 1,200 by 800m associated with the mineralised system and which has never been drill tested. The anomaly extends through the time delayed responses increasing the likelihood that the anomaly is associated with a sulphidic source.

Rock chip sampling across 1.2km of strike at Cymbric Vale returned up to 5.6% copper. The two former holes at the prospect hit 20m at 0.73% copper and 20m at 0.33% copper.

Drilling will also test anomalies at Wertago once approvals have been secured.

As well as its RC program, Odin also plans to undertake patterned systemic auger drilling. This is expected to help underpin further RC campaigns at the project.

Auger drilling will hone-in on the EM anomalies at Wertago that extend for more than 10km including two high priority targets that are 1,200m apart. Strong team steering the ship

Heading up Odin is Jason Bontempo as executive chairman. Mr Bontempo has 22 years of experience in managing public companies and has specialised in advancing, financing and developing mineral resource assets.

Joining him on the board are Simon Mottram and Ted Coupland as non-executive directors.

Mr Mottram has 25 years of experience in base and precious metals and is well-versed in modern exploration techniques, large-scale drilling programs and feasibility studies. Mr Mottram was the executive director of successful copper miner Avenco Resources, which was taken over by OZ Minerals (ASX: OZL) for $440 million.

Meanwhile, Mr Coupland has 30 years of experience in mining, exploration, and resource finance. Mr Coupland is qualified in geology, geostatistics, mineral economics and finance and has worked across exploration, mine geology, resource estimation, risk analysis, resource consulting and business management.

Bullish copper outlook

At Koonenberry, the Odin board is chasing copper at a time when major industry commentators are expecting its price to rocket due to mounting demand and tight supplies.

It is expected the copper price will continue rising in 2021, with the metal currently hovering at US$9,760 per tonne (A$13,264/t).

Analyst Goldman Sachs is forecasting copper will hit US$11,000/t (A$14,950/t) within 12 months and attract US$11,875/t (A$16,140/t) in 2022.

It predicts by 2023, copper will reach US$12,000/t (A$16,300/t) and rise further to tip US$15,000/t (A$20,385/t) in 2025.

Driving this bullish outlook is the commodity’s critical role in de-carbonisation of the world and electrification of vehicles.