- 01Ricci Lee: 22m @3.05% Cu from 250m; 9m @6.86%.
- 02Deep bornite at ~220m confirms strong Cu system.
- 03BOA to own Thaduna/Green Dragon; 36 Ricci Lee holes pending assays.
BOA Resources (ASX: BOA) has reported a high-grade copper intersection at depth following reverse circulation drilling at the northern portion of the Ricci Lee prospect within its Neds Creek copper project in Western Australia.
Drilling at the targeted main lode structure returned a best assay of 22 metres at 3.05% copper from 250m including 9m at 6.86%, 10m at 1.81% from 133m, and 3m at 4.96%.
The deeper high-grade zone reflects the presence of bornite mineralisation over a significant width at 220m vertical depth, while the shallower intersection defines a new hanging wall lode in the northern part of the prospect.
Another hole drilled on the same section returned 19m at 0.83% copper including 12m at 1.11% in the oxide zone, with assays pending for another three holes on the same section.
Associated silver mineralisation was also recorded including 22m at 9.5 grams per tonne and 9m at 22.1g/t, with better grades displaying a direct relationship with high-grade copper zones.
Thaduna Structural Location
The priority Ricci Lee prospect sits within the same stratigraphic and structural setting, and is interpreted to be a geological analogue of, the nearby Thaduna copper deposit.
Thaduna hosts a mineral resource estimate of 4.1 million tonnes at 2.5% copper for 103,000 tonnes contained copper.
The latest results support good continuity from a historical hole located 80m to the south that intersected 5m at 3.48% copper from 203m and 10m at 5.12% from 218m at 190m vertical depth.
Managing director Graeme Purcell said bornite intersection was the “strongest evidence to date” that Ricci Lee hosts a significant high-grade copper system at depth rather than a series of scattered, narrow mineralised zones.
The company expects a substantial near-term flow of news, with another 36 Ricci Lee holes awaiting assays as well as aircore results from the Rooneys, Blockley, Mueller, Ward, and Limestone Bore prospects at Neds Creek following a 13,000m drilling campaign.
Large Tenement Holding
Neds Creek comprises a large tenement holding of 1,378 square kilometres that covers an area of approximately 60km x 40km in the northeastern arm of the Paleoproterozoic Yerrida Basin in WA’s Murchison region.
The project lies within the Capricorn Orogen, which also hosts the DeGrussa, Monty, and Horseshoe Lights copper-gold deposits to the west, and the Earaheedy base-metal province approximately 85km to the east.
Associated with carbon-filled brittle faults and chlorite-carbonate alteration, principally within the Thaduna Formation, copper mineralisation has also been identified at the Enigma prospect within the older Johnson Cairn Formation.
BOA currently owns a 49% interest in Neds Creek and has proposed to acquire the remaining 51%, along with—subject to shareholder approval next month—100% of Thaduna and the nearby Green Dragon copper deposit.
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