True North strikes high-grade copper-gold in Qld copper heartland

True North Copper has charged out of the gates with a flurry of high-grade copper-gold hits at its Wallace North prospect in northwest Queensland, intercepting a new high-grade shoot at a stunning 19 metres at 2.18 per cent copper and 1.76 grams per tonne (g/t) gold from 106m.

The company has completed a six-hole, 1240m reverse circulation (RC) program at Wallace, within its broader Cloncurry copper project, to test priority targets identified by a recent electromagnetic survey. The survey mapped significant potential extensions to Wallace’s resources at three conductive trends at the project over 8 kilometres of strike length.

The headline 19m hit was a 60m strike extension southwest of the current Wallace resource and marks the best intercept yet at the deposit. The intercept includes a higher-grade 9m section running a considerable 4.33 per cent copper and 3.64g/t gold.

Additional intercepts featured promising extensions to the mineralised envelopes, including 17m at 1.08 per cent copper and 0.24g/t gold from 76m and an 11m hit running 1.82 per cent copper and 0.51g/t gold from 191m.

The hits confirm the hanging wall and footwall extensions, which the company believes could reshape the Wallace complex into a major open-pit and high-grade underground hub.

True North has also received final phase one drilling results from its Mt Oxide project, which confirms its Aquila copper-cobalt-silver discovery’s depth persistence to more than 420m. The results provide the company with a clear runway for an accelerated phase two drilling program.

Our recent IP survey has significantly expanded our understanding of the Aquila mineralised system, building on the exceptional drill results we announced in July. What began as a single anomaly with limited strike extents is now emerging as a potential multi-kilometre-scale copper-cobalt-silver system.

True North says its exploration machine is firing on all cylinders, with phase two drilling now hammering Aquila’s strike extensions, chasing high-conductivity targets from a recent induced polarisation survey that stretched the system to 1.3km depth.

The company’s Cloncurry project sits around the historic Queensland mining town of Cloncurry. Mt Oxide is 140km north of town, within the Mt Isa terrain.

Mt Oxide already possesses scale but offers mammoth upside potential. Its Vero prospect carries a substantial 15 million tonnes at 1.46 per cent copper with a separate cobalt inventory grading at 0.23 per cent copper.

Wallace North’s growing resource contains a current 1.79Mt resource grading a handy 1.31 per cent copper and 0.78g/t gold for a formidable second feather in its exploration cap.

The company’s $53 million recapitalisation earlier this year marked a turning point for the previously delisted producer. Notably, its revitalisation was backed by heavyweights, such as Tembo Capital, Regal Funds and Glencore, leaving True North debt-free with $13 million in cash in a humming copper market.

First cab of the company’s rank is 15,000m of RC drilling across both hubs. The Cloncurry hub also has an impressive list of copper production infrastructure, including an SX plant, crusher, heap-leach pad and tailings facilities, which are ready to be cranked up if the oxide inventory grows. Nearby tolling options keep its higher-grade sulphide resources in play.

The company’s dual-project strategy affords it the best of both worlds for exploration, as near-term resources grow at Cloncurry with its impressive extension, there is blue sky at Mt Oxide and its mammoth targets.

As the rigs keep turning and assays roll in, True North is shaping up as a rare Australian copper play in a red-hot copper market.

Backed by a $53 million recapitalisation that has swept away the ghosts of failed administrations past, True North is rapidly expanding its Cloncurry and Mt Oxide hubs in the world-renowned Mt Isa region and has plenty of results still to come.

Is your ASX-listed company doing something interesting? Contact: matt.birney@wanews.com.au