Xanadu Mines Ltd (ASX: XAM, TSX: XAM) (Xanadu or the Company) is pleased to advise it has commenced an accelerated drilling program at its flagship Kharmagtai copper-gold project (Figures 1 and 2), as part of an exploration plan funded by its recent, successful equity placement. The program increases diamond drill rigs from one to three on site and continues through the end of 2020.
Highlights
• Exploration drilling fast-tracked to target material growth in resource tonnes and grade at Kharmagtai
• Approximately 23,000 metres diamond drilling planned before the end of the year
• Three diamond drill rigs now operating at Kharmagtai
• Clear exploration strategy based on a robust geological model
o Step-out drilling to target extensions to known high-grade mineralisation
o Extensional drilling to test all remaining shallow, high-priority drill targets
• Copper Hill CSAMT geophysical survey has commenced with results expected by early August
• Strong financial position with ~$13 million* to pursue the Kharmagtai exploration strategy
Xanadu’s Chief Executive Officer, Dr Andrew Stewart, said “Our team is pleased to be accelerating drilling at Kharmagtai. The 3,000 metres of drilling to be completed in 2020 is targeted to open-up both the tonnage and high grade potential for this project. Our recent drilling results support interpretations that the porphyry-breccia complex at Kharmagtai has the potential to be a world class copper-gold system with similarities to other significant deposits globally. Xanadu is entering an exciting period of discovery and growth.”
Exploration Strategy
As reported in recent announcements (see ASX/TSX announcement dated July 8, 2020), Xanadu has returned to a long-term strategy of exploring for large-scale copper-gold deposits across its tenements in Mongolia. At Kharmagtai, this strategy seeks to build on the updated open-pit mineral resource and open pit scoping study (see ASX/TSX announcement dated April 11, 2019), which demonstrated a robust and economic open-pit starter project.
Xanadu is now focused on expanding known high-grade zones of mineralisation and discovering new, previously undrilled zones of copper and gold, aiming to define Kharmagtai as a world-class copper
and gold project.
The first phase of this strategy is underway, designed to understand the scale of the mineralised system through extensional drilling with several large step-outs from known zones. This phase will map
the mineral system by following broad geological/geochemical trends, allowing for more surgical drill targeting in the second phase.
Geophysical Program
A detailed geophysical program is underway (Figure 2) to provide a detailed 3D fault model from which known zones of high-grade mineralisation can be extended. A recent trial of Controlled Source Audio Magnetotelluric (CSAMT) has recently been conducted over Copper Hill (Figure 3) with encouraging results. Based on these encouraging results, a larger CSAMT survey is currently underway, covering the mining lease. The results from this work will be used to develop extensional drill targets.
Drill Program
An additional two diamond drill rigs have been added to an ongoing drill program at Kharmagtai taking the total to three diamond drill rigs drilling through to the end of the year. The first drill rig is focused on drilling the remaining 4 shallow highest-priority drill targets that are yet to be tested within the district. A second rig is currently drilling along strike from the Zaraa discovery.
A third rig is following up on the high-grade bornite mineralisation below the Stockwork Hill deposit and extensional potential of the Copper Hill deposit (Figure 2).
The high-grade bornite zone at Stockwork Hill remains open along strike and at depth. A drill program has been designed to extend this zone of high-grade mineralisation. Similarly, mineralisation at Copper Hill remains open at depth and the faulted offset of Copper Hill has yet to be discovered. The recent trial CSAMT survey has produced numerous extensional targets for follow up drilling.
Table 1
Audits or reviews
• 2018: CSA Global reviewed the entire drilling, logging, sampling, sample shipping and laboratory processes during the competent persons site visit for the 2018 Mineral Resource Estimate, and found the systems and adherence to protocols to be to an appropriate standard.
SOURCE: Xanadu Mines
DATE: 31 August, 2020