Carnaby Resources strikes high-grade copper-gold in maiden Trekelano drilling
Carnaby Resources (ASX: CNB) has returned promising copper and gold hits in its maiden drilling campaign at the Trekelano project in Mt Isa, Queensland.
The company made a strategic move to acquire Trekelano in November 2024 due to its proximity to its Greater Duchess copper-gold project.
Carnaby expects to complete the Trekelano acquisition in the next few months, with the ongoing environmental authority de-amalgamation being the only remaining condition required to be fulfilled prior to settlement.
Historical open pit
The maiden drilling program at Trekelano has intersected significant high-grade and broad zones of copper-gold mineralisation beneath the historical Inheritance open pit that Barrick mined between 2006 and 2009.
Carnaby is in the process of incorporating Trekelano into the company’s Greater Duchess pre-feasibility study (PFS) and the new results will form part of the assessment.
Carnaby has completed conceptual open pit optimisations at Trekelano to guide the geotechnical drilling and will conduct mineral resource updates once it has completed the maiden drilling program and received the results.
The company is also undertaking geotechnical and metallurgical sampling and analysis in conjunction with the drilling program.
Lightly drilled
Covering 371 hectares of granted mining leases, Trekelano remains lightly drilled beneath the existing three deposits and along the fault controlled corridors along strike.
The historical Trekelano mine was continuously mined between 1911 and 1945, with narrow underground workings mined down to approximately 240m below surface.
Spectacular historical drill results below the workings clearly demonstrate continuity of the high grade mineralisation and Carnaby believes that, in conjunction with drilling, electrical geophysics will form an invaluable exploration tool.
True mineralisation widths
Managing director Rob Watkins said the exceptional assay results from the initial two drill holes at Trekelano have confirmed the significant true widths of the historic high-grade copper-gold mineralisation.
“The Trekelano project is shaping up to be a key pillar of the Greater Duchess project along with our high-grade discoveries at Mount Hope, Lady Fanny and Nil Desperandum,” Mr Watkins said.
“We believe these four deposits will form the backbone of a successful new mine development in the Mount Isa region—Trekelano has enormous scope to add material open-pittable inventory.”