Orbit kicks off partner-funded NSW copper-gold drilling

Résumé détaillé

Orbit Resources has kicked off partner-funded drilling at its Goodrich copper-gold project in NSW, following up a significant porphyry discovery, while it awaits assays from its flagship Lewis Ponds project.

Orbit Resources has fired up the drill rig for a second stage of partner-funded diamond campaign at its Goodrich Porphyry prospect, 70 kilometres south-west of Orange, within the highly prospective Lachlan Fold Belt in New South Wales.

The four-hole, 1000-metre program follows July’s stage-one discovery of the aptly named “Pencil Porphyry” - a narrow, vertically extensive mineralised structure - which delivered a solid hit of 136.55m grading 0.32 per cent copper, 0.16 grams per tonne (g/t) gold and 43g/t molybdenum from 81.45m. That intercept also contained a richer 3.55-metre core running at an impressive 2.8 per cent copper.

Geologically, the company’s initial discovery was a textbook hit, intersecting a chalcopyrite-bearing monzonite porphyry. The intrusion also exhibited mineralised “unidirectional solidification textures”, key pathfinders for large ore systems, suggesting the ground may hold further treasures lurking below.

The new drilling will test the lateral and down-dip extent of the interpreted porphyry system and investigate its continuity with historical copper-gold intercepts associated with the project’s nearby Goodrich open pit.

Orbit’s joint venture partner, Canadian-listed Great Plains Metals Corp, is fully funding the program and is now providing an additional $1 million of work, including a minimum of 500m of drilling under the joint venture agreement as it works towards earning a 70 per cent stake. The deal will leave Orbit holding a 30 per cent interest, giving it cost-effective exposure to further exploration success without having to foot the bill during the earn-in period.

While the JV drilling at Goodrich provides a free kick at goal, Orbit’s main game remains its flagship Lewis Ponds gold-silver-zinc project, also in the Lachlan Fold Belt. The project already hosts a hefty mineral resource of 17.52 million tonnes (Mt) containing 1.7 million ounces of gold equivalent.

A scoping study on Lewis Ponds outlined a robust base-case pre-tax net present…

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