Zenith Minerals restarts drilling at Develin Creek after monsoon hiatus
Zenith Minerals expects to complete drilling in three-to-four weeks, with results to feed into an updated resource estimate.
Drilling has recommenced at Zenith Minerals’ (ASX: ZNC) Develin Creek copper-zinc project in Queensland with two rigs stationed at the Sulphide City massive sulphide deposit.
A three-rig campaign which kicked off in September was designed to test the Wilsons North and Snook prospects, as well as four other targets surrounding Sulphide City.
Heavy monsoon rains in December restricted the movement of drill crews and ultimately forced the program into hiatus.
Work has now restarted to complete resource update drilling within the next four weeks.
Drilling is part of a broader plan to build upon the existing JORC resource at Develin Creek and add potential tonnage to the copper-zinc volcanogenic massive sulphide (VMS) inventory.
A resumed program of works at Wilsons North and Snook has been deferred until later in the year.
Also deferred is the testing of electromagnetic and geochemical targets surrounding Sulphide City which were not tested during last year’s campaign.
Twin-hole program
A total of 46 drill holes were completed during the 2021 campaign for a total of 6,148 metres.
A twin-hole program in July at the Sulphide City and Scorpion deposits returned strong results such as 34m at 3.5% copper-zinc including 10m at 6.0% copper-zinc, and 29m at 3.5% copper-zinc including 12.3m at 6.7% copper-zinc.
High-grade assays at Scorpion included 21m at 2.5% copper, 1.6% zinc, 0.4 grams per tonne gold and 18g/t silver; 20m at 2.3% copper, 0.3% zinc, 0.4g/t gold and 16.2g/t silver; and 18m at 1.7% copper, 0.6% zinc, 0.6g/t gold and 26.3g/t silver.
Results from current drilling will be incorporated into an updated resource estimate for both deposits.
Inferred resource
In 2015, Zenith confirmed the Develin Creek project contains an inferred mineral resource of 2.57 million tonnes grading 1.76% copper, 2.01% zinc, 0.24g/t gold and 9.6g/t silver (2.62% copper equivalent).
In May 2020, the company’s technical team identified the Snook copper target, 30km south of the existing resource, during a regional systematic soil sampling campaign.
Six months after Snook’s discovery, a maiden drill test of seven shallow reverse circulation holes intersected 3m of massive and semi-massive sulphides close to surface, at 20m depth.
The zone returned assays of 3m at 1.57% copper, 1.07% zinc, 0.37% lead, 43g/t silver and 0.2g/t gold including 2m of massive sulphide grading 1.95% copper, 1.34% zinc, 0.48% lead, 55g/t silver and 0.3g/t gold.
Subsequent follow-up drilling in December extended the footprint of massive sulphides to a length of 150m, with the zone remaining open along strike to the south.
Drilling at Wilsons North returned multiple intersections of massive pyrite which commonly occurs in association with base metal-rich massive sulphides at Sulphide City.
Snook and the nearby Wilsons North prospect have confirmed a cluster of massive sulphides is present within Zenith’s landholdings and reaffirm the highly prospective nature of the Develin Creek project.