Tennant Minerals has reported a downhole zone of intense gold, copper, and bismuth mineralisation at the Bluebird copper-gold discovery at its Barkly project in the Northern Territory.
The latest results from its diamond drilling program at Bluebird from drillhole BBDD0050 have revealed a substantial 19.7-metre intersection of hematite-quartz and jasper-sulphide breccia.
The core sample also contained native copper, bismuth sulphides, and visible specks of gold, confirming the deposit’s high-grade potential.
This intersection lies west and down-plunge of the company’s existing open-pit Mineral Resource, suggesting the high-grade zone remains open and could be significantly larger than previously understood.
Tennant Minerals indicated that the newly extended zone sits within a large gravity-high feature. Modelling suggests the mineralised ironstone could extend over 400 metres west of the current high-grade zone, providing a pathway to potentially double the footprint of the Bluebird deposit.
“The intersection of 19.7m of classic Tennant Creek style mineralisation with native copper, bismuth sulphides and specks of visible gold has highlighted the potential to extend the high-grade gold with copper and bismuth zone which is open to the west and down-plunge of the open-pit mineral resource,” the company stated.
The Bluebird deposit is located on the eastern edge of the historic Tennant Creek Mineral Field, a region with a prolific production history of over 5.5 million ounces of gold and 700,000 tonnes of copper.
Tennant Minerals is currently employing a dual-track strategy: aggressively expanding the mineral resource at Bluebird while concurrently testing other regional targets within the Bluebird-Perseverance corridor.
The new core samples are currently being prepared for metallurgical test work. The company aims to optimise recovery processes for gold, bismuth, copper, and silver, which is expected to enhance the project’s overall economic profile, particularly as global prices for gold and bismuth continue to rise.
While the company cautions that visual estimates of mineralisation are not a substitute for laboratory assays, it expects full analytical results to be available within the next two to three weeks.
