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Doug Bright
Bulls N’ Bears Big Hits looks at notable drill hits recently reported to the ASX last week, led by Polar X Limited, Sunstone Metals and Manuka Resources. So let’s dive in.
POLARX Limited. (ASX: PXX)
Project: Caribou Dome copper project, Alaska
Hit: 24.8m at 9.8 per cent copper and 14.5g/t silver from 2.4m
PolarX Limited delivered the standout base metals result of the week with what can only be described as extraordinary copper grades across meaningful widths at its Caribou Dome project in Alaska.
The company’s best hole returned 24.8m grading 9.8 per cent copper from just 2.4m downhole, including 4.9m at 13.6 per cent copper and 20.4 grams per tonne (g/t) silver.
Importantly, that intercept was not isolated. A second nearby hole produced 22.6m at 8.1 per cent copper and 13.5g/t silver, confirming continuity of the mineralised system. The findings provide further evidence that Caribou Dome hosts one of the highest-grade copper systems currently being drilled and among the highest grades recently reported on the ASX.
The results are notable not only for their grade, but also because they sit beneath the company’s existing mineral resource with its 224,375 tonnes of contained copper.
In a location where many explorers often struggle to replicate historic results, PolarX has instead shown that the mineralisation remains robust at depth; the company’s drilling has extended the known mineralisation an estimated 170m beneath the existing resource.
If further drilling can demonstrate the system remains open at depth and at scale, it could light up a compelling pathway to further resource growth. For a copper market increasingly focused on future supply shortages, the combination of grade, width and expansion potential made PolarX the clear winner on this week’s Big Hits.
SUNSTONE METALS (ASX: STM)
Project: Bramaderos project, Southern Ecuador
Hit: 9.4m grading 17.23g/t gold equivalent
Sunstone Metals has once again demonstrated the remarkable potential of its Bramaderos project in Southern Ecuador with a combination of bonanza-grade gold-equivalent values and a strong indication of potentially large-scale mineralisation.
The company’s headline hit returned 9.4m grading 17.23g/t gold equivalent, including a spectacular 6m section running 26.60g/t gold equivalent. Grades such as these would attract attention in almost any mining jurisdiction and reinforce the project’s potential to host high-value shoots within its broader mineralised system.
However, almost as significantly, another hole 200m south-southwest of the headline hit tore through a 368m intercept at an average grade of 0.45g/t gold equivalent. While that grade might seem modest compared to the headline hit, the scale of mineralisation – in the apparent centre of the Melonal porphyry – points to a type of big intrusive-related system capable of supporting a significant resource.
Together, the two results tell an important story. The high-grade interval highlights the potential for selective mining opportunities, while the broad lower-grade intersection points to the potential for large-scale tonnage growth.
Finding both opportunities in the same deposit is relatively rare. If that characteristic is maintained throughout Melonal or even overall across multiple porphyry apophyses at Bramaderos, it could form the basis for a long-life mining operation.
The Bramaderos project contains a 2025 mineral resource of 220 million tonnes at 0.50g/t gold equivalent, for an impressive 3.6 million gold equivalent ounces.
With the latest holes expected to contribute to a resource update slated for the next quarter, Sunstone continues to strengthen its case for Bramaderos to evolve into one of the more significant but currently undeveloped gold-copper assets in South America.
The project’s combination of exceptional grade and extensive mineralisation secures its second place on the podium among this week’s standout drill results.
MANUKA RESOURCES (ASX: MKR)
Project: Pipeline Ridge, Cobar Basin, NSW
Hit: 32m at 7.98g/t gold from 34m
Manuka Resources produced one of the strongest pure-gold results of the week from its maiden drilling program at the Pipeline Ridge prospect, where broad zones of high-grade mineralisation indicate the project may be much bigger than previously understood.
The standout intercept of 32m at 7.98g/t gold from 34m combined substantial width with impressive grade, a combination explorers rarely report.
Adding further weight to that result, two more holes delivered 8m at 12.96g/t gold from 37m and 5m at 8.59g/t, also from 37m depth.
Rather than being borne along on a wave of enthusiasm from a single spectacular assay, the company’s latest program has multiple strong gold intersections across several holes, indicating a mineralised system with appreciable continuity and scale.
Investors often view that consistency more favourably than a single one-off high-grade hit because it provides greater confidence in the discovery’s overall potential.
The shallow nature of the intercepts is also encouraging because it could ultimately support lower-cost mining scenarios if ongoing drilling continues to build the mineralised footprint. Early-stage discoveries capable of producing strong grades close to surface often attract considerable market attention as they progress through successive drill campaigns.
Pipeline Ridge is a polymetallic copper-lead-zinc- gold deposit with volcanogenic massive sulphide (VMS) associations. Manuka’s current drilling has targeted a later-stage phase of gold mineralisation, which appears largely controlled by brecciation within the tuffaceous volcanic host rocks.
Manuka is evaluating Pipeline Ridge as a possible satellite gold deposit sitting within trucking distance of its Wonawinta processing facility, 120 kilometres away, where it has recently restarted processing with ore from Mt Boppy, 20km north-northwest of Pipeline Ridge.
Pipeline Ridge therefore has the potential to provide an additional source of gold feed as Manuka builds a broader, multi-source precious metals production platform across its Cobar Basin assets.
With gold prices continuing to provide a favourable backdrop for explorers, especially amid global unease, Manuka’s latest results rank among the most commercially attractive reported to the market this week and suggest Pipeline Ridge could become a significant growth asset for the company.
Is your ASX-listed company doing something interesting? Contact: mattbirney@bullsnbears.com.au
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