Reverse circulation drilling at Thursday’s Gossan returned 24m at 0.64% copper and 1.2 grams per tonne gold from 22m; 29m at 0.53% copper and 0.3gpt gold from 110m to end-of-hole, including 4m at 1.39% copper and 0.5gpt gold; 25m at 0.52% copper and 0.37gpt from 71m to EOH; and 3m at 4.14% copper and 0.36gpt gold from 87m.

The company said copper-gold mineralisation was intersected over a 400m strike extent and could easily extend beyond 1km.

Stavely described the results as the most important from the project to date, and said they supported the company’s conceptual model.

Stavely managing director Chris Cairns said the results were impressive in terms of the width and tenor of the mineralisation, combined with the fact that many holes ended in mineralisation.

“Importantly, this is the most convincing endorsement we have seen to date of our conceptual model that a second-phase porphyry intrusion is driving the copper-gold mineralisation at Thursday’s Gossan,” he said.

“Given that these results are from a style of host-rock hydrothermal alteration typically located above and lateral to even stronger copper-gold mineralisation, I am confident that the best results are potentially yet to come with deeper drilling at Thursday’s Gossan.”

Stavely has seen similarities between Thursday’s Gossan and Cadia in New South Wales, and noted that the grades hit in the latest drilling are comparable to the Cadia ore reserve of 80 million tonnes at 0.28% copper and 0.54gpt gold.

Importantly, Stavely believes grades at Thursday’s Gossan will increase at depth.

“We are very excited about the emerging discovery opportunity in front of us and we are looking forward to receiving the balance of the assay results and potentially getting a track-mounted rig back into the field as quickly as possible to drill some deeper holes targeting the high-grade centre of the porphyry system,” Cairns said.
 
Stavely had A$2.8 million in cash at the start of April and was planning to spend about $865,000 in the June quarter.

Shares in Stavely jumped by 53% in early trade to 16c.