Rox Resources recent rock chip exploration at the Bonya copper project in the Northern Territory is unveiling the extensive high grade nature of the deposit with copper grades of up to 32.9% and new and existing prospects located over 20 kilometers of strike.
This is testament to managing director Ian Mulholland’s decision to farm into the copper prospective project that is already drawing comparisons to Kentor Gold’s 13.5 million tonne at 1.3% copper Jervois Project located adjacent to Bonya.
Samples of outcropping oxide (malachite, azurite) and sulphide (chalcocite) copper mineralization have been collected from numerous old workings within the western tenement area, with rock chip assays of up to 32.9% copper, 54.8 grams per tonne silver and 0.64 gram per tonne gold.
Regionally, the copper mineralization occurs within the Bonya Schist which also hosts the Jervois copper deposits some 20 kilometers to the east. At Bonya and several other prospects there are old workings with small stockpiles of copper oxide ore. These stockpiles were generated in the 1950s and 1960s when the copper oxide ore was being collected for use as flux in the Mount Isa copper smelter. Transport of this material stopped abruptly when the copper price fell and the ore stockpiles were abandoned. It appears that there has been no drilling at or below any of these old workings.
Mr Ian Mulholland MD of Rox Resources said that “We are excited by these new finds of outcropping oxide copper mineralization because they demonstrate the outstanding prospectivity of the tenements over an extensive area. To have so many copper occurrences augers well for our success in locating further significant copper deposits here.”
Mr Mulholland said that “The nearby Jervois deposits are being developed by Kentor Gold and they have a significant mineral resource. There is no reason, given exploration success, that we couldn’t develop similar resources on the Bonya tenement in due course.”
