True North beefs up Queensland copper-gold stash

Queensland-based explorer True North Copper has beefed up its Wallace North copper-gold mineral resource after incorporating the numbers from two reverse-circulation (RC) drillholes completed last year.

The Wallace North deposit forms part of the company’s wider Cloncurry copper project in northwest Queensland and now tips the scales at two million tonnes, grading 1.28 per cent copper and 0.77 grams per tonne (g/t) gold, for a total of 25,000 tonnes of contained copper and 50,000 ounces of the precious yellow metal. Both metals are on a gangbuster price run.

The gold price has smashed through US$5000 (A$7151) per ounce in the past few days and touched a high of US$5189 (A$7404) today. Copper has also been on a tear lately, breaching the US$6 per pound mark earlier this month.

The results stemmed from just two reverse circulation holes drilled in September last year for a combined 400 metres, with one of the holes delivering the lion’s share of the standout intercepts.

The first hole intersected 17m grading 1.08 per cent copper and 0.24g/t gold – a 1.32 per cent copper equivalent - from 76m, including a high-grade 2-metre slice going 6.38 per cent copper from a depth of 80m.

The same hole also gave up a 19-metre stretch running at 2.18 copper and 1.76g/t gold – equating to 3.97 per cent copper equivalent - from 106m. That intercept included a head-turning 9-metre block of 4.33 per cent copper and 3.64g/t gold, rounding the hit out to more than 8 per cent copper equivalent from 108m.

Further down the hole, the hits continued, with 3m running at 0.69 per cent copper and a solid 4.95g/t gold from 135m depth, which included 1m grading 14.54g/t gold from 136m.

A final 11m interval at 1.82 per cent copper and 0.51g/t gold from 191m proved continuity of mineralisation at depth and the potential to intersect further copper-gold with deeper drilling.

The second hole hit moderate copper, with 5m at 0.36 per cent and 0.5g/t gold from 35m and an 8m section going 0.24 per cent from a depth of 97m.

The Cloncurry project sits near the township of Cloncurry, about 120km from the renowned mining town of Mount Isa and is accessed by the fully sealed double lane Barkly Highway.

The projects combined mineral resource stands at 12.9 million tonnes grading 0.8 per cent copper for a total of 102,760 copper tonnes, 0.2g/t gold for a valuable 81,820 ounces of gold and 1860 tonnes of cobalt. The deposit also includes 50,000 ounces of silver, which has experienced a massive run-up in price, reaching as high as US$117 (A$167) per ounce over the past six months.

True North’s grounds consist of six separate deposits, including the Great Australia Mine deposit, which contributes the largest copper and cobalt resource of 41,100 tonnes of the red metal and 1130 tonnes of cobalt. The Taipan prospect – holding its second-largest inventory - accounts for 29,150 tonnes of contained copper and 20,170 ounces of gold, while the company’s Wallace North prospect is now responsible for the biggest gold portfolio at site.

Management says minor mining activities undertaken in 2024 caused a slight depletion of the resource. However, the more recent RC drilling has now bumped up resource tonnes by 12 per cent, contributing to a 9 per cent increase in contained copper and an 11 per cent boost to gold ounces. The drilling campaign also confirmed consistent grades and married up the geometry with prior estimates.

With the addition of only two drillholes, and after allowing for mining depletion, the resource has grown modestly while grades and geometry have remained consistent. That outcome reinforces our confidence in the geological model and the quality of the historic drilling.

The company says the Wallace North resource update will support ongoing technical studies at the project for a future pre-feasibility study (PFS) and aid drill planning for a resource extension program planned for later this year.

It says it’s also on track to deliver a resource update at its Great Australia Mine in the first quarter of this year.

Cloncurry’s resource update comes hot on the heels of news confirming more mineralised hits at the company’s Aquila deposit, which forms part of its Mt Oxide project, also in northwest Queensland.

A phase-two drilling program intersected 74m at 0.49 per cent copper and minor cobalt-silver from 136m, including an 18m stretch grading 0.88 per cent copper that came with a solid 3m slice going 3.44 per cent copper and 5g/t silver from 144m.

True North is in the enviable position of beefing up its copper and gold inventory, at a time when the price of both metals are punching to new highs and demand is rising to near-epic proportions - surely a massive positive for a junior explorer.

Is your ASX-listed company doing something interesting? Contact: matt.birney@wanews.com.au