Step-out trenching being carried out at the Tsagaan Sudal deposits of Xanadu Mines’ Kharmagtai Copper-Gold Project in southern Mongolia continues to extend the strike of higher grade surface mineralization.
Two new trenches 50 metres apart within the margins of the current resource pit shell have intersected significant surface mineralization consistent with or better than the resource estimate. This provides further confidence to the geological interpretation, mineralization controls and resource model.
Two new trenches have been excavated about 50 metres and 100 metres along strike from a previous trench that returned 320 metres @ 0.57% copper equivalent, including 122 metres @ 0.98%. Both trenches have confirmed extensions to mineralization to the resource estimate of 115 million tonnes @ 0.29% copper and 0.23 grams/tonne gold.
Both have extended the known stockwork copper-gold mineralization with significant intervals at well above the average grade of the current resource.
One trench intersected 304 metres @ 0.40% copper and 0.23 grams/tonne gold, including 116 metres @ 0.72% copper and 0.35 grams/tonne gold. The other intersected 280 metres @ 0.36% copper and 0.10 grams/tonne gold, including 90 metres @ 0.57% copper and 0.14 grams/tonne gold.
Xanadu’s CEO Andrew Stewart said: “The quality and scale of this deposit continues to be demonstrated by these positive trench results. This program targeted the projection of the Tsagaan Sudal resource and under shallow sand cover and has successfully confirmed extensions to mineralization over 300 metres to the northwest, where mineralization remains open.
“These results help refine our geological model for the Kharmagtai district and further demonstrate that Kharmagtai is growing towards a sizeable porphyry deposit, with relatively high gold to copper ratios.”
In light of recent drilling and trenching results Xanadu’s exploration team is now working on putting the broader geological framework together to finalize the next drill phases for the entire project.