The Trundle Project is located in the Junee-Narromine volcanic belt of the Macquarie Arc in a brownfield setting within the westerly rift separated part of the Northparkes Igneous Complex (“NIC”). Trundle is estimated to potentially host a quarter of the interpreted total near surface NIC.
The eastern section of the NIC, which hosts the Northparkes mine, includes a mineral endowment of approximately 24Moz AuEq (at 0.6% Cu and 0.2g/t Au) across 22 discoveries, of which 9 have proven positive economics or been mined.
The predominate high-grade copper gold deposits in the Macquarie Arc and at the Northparkes mine are pipe like, “finger” or “pencil” porphyries that are vertically extensive but horizontally discrete.
Northparkes is Australia’s second largest porphyry mine, hosting 5 gold rich porphyry deposits within an approximate 2.5 x 4.5km zone, with the core of these systems located predominately at moderate depths.
Outside of the existing mining license, Northparkes is looking to develop its first satellite deposit. The E44 gold-copper skarn deposit is currently at the permitting phases for a potential open pit mine and >20km truck haulage to the existing mill.
Northparkes is operated by China Molybdenum Company Limited (CMOC) who acquired an 80% interest in the project from Rio Tinto in July 2013 for US$820 million (Sumitomo retaining a 20% minority interest) and has since undertaken a material expansion of production and extension of mine life.
In July 2020, Triple Flag Precious Metals Corporation paid US$550 million to secure streaming rights over certain gold and silver production from Northparkes. A Triple Flag virtual mine tour of Northparkes (December 2021) is available is available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hr43-cwWccM.
The porphyry intrusion and associated skarn system setting intersected at Trundle is a common geological setting of many large porphyry systems (eg Cadia, Grasberg, Ok Tedi etc). Within the Macquarie Arc, the Big and Little Cadia skarns at Cadia have produced an estimated 140,000t of high-grade copper (5-7%) and greater than 1.5Mt iron ore, and were important to the discovery of multiple adjacent causative intrusions and deposits that make up the largest porphyry system and gold mine in Australia.
Prior to Kincora’s activities, despite 61,146 metres of prior explorer drilling completed at Trundle, only 11 holes (0.5% of holes drilled) have previously been to depths (greater than 250 metres) and in a manner that might test the potential for such a target at the Trundle Project.
This is not withstanding confirmed extensive near surface copper and gold mineralization across greater than a 10km2 north-south strike length and coincident magnetic responses, encouragement at moderate depths from this limited prior deeper drilling and Trundle being located within a brownfield environment to Northparkes.
At the Trundle Project there has only been one prior explorer hole completed following a favourable Typhoon geophysical survey by High Powered Exploration (HPX, led by chairman and CEO Robert Friedland). The Typhoon geophysical system is proprietary and was developed to penetrate deeper than traditional equivalent systems, and in Kincora’s view is industry leading for this system of mineralization. HPX generated 23 new Induced Polarisation (“IP”) anomalies, many of which in Kincora’s view are further supported geologically by vertically extensive porphyry targets extending to moderate depths.
Kincora’s concept is that prior exploration efforts have not been adequately tailored using geochemistry (surface and historic down-hole), combined with deeper IP survey results, modern magnetics and integrated geology and geophysics to systematically rank prospects technically and then explore and test for copper gold mineralized systems at Trundle. Specifically, prior explorer efforts to depths greater than 250m from surface to follow shallow vectors within the skarn mineralised systems within the Northparkes Igneous Complex at Trundle have been inadequate.
For example, at the Trundle Park prospect, the average depth of previous explorer drilling was only 28 metres and defined a 700m gold-copper mineralised strike. Kincora has expanded this search space and significant increased the known mineralised footprint to now a strike of over 1.3km (and open) and depth to almost 750m vertical metres.
Following detailed expert technical reviews undertaken in mid 2022, Kincora has reaffirmed its geological concepts and a significantly improved understanding of mineral system controls. This has refined high conviction targets at shallow depths across a 3.2km strike (and open) supporting a pipeline offering world-class scale potential.
Industry leading geoscience has confirmed ore grade potential within established mineral systems at the Trundle project.
Recent reviews have resulted in high conviction targets with high impact drilling expected, driven by:
- testing more prospects (5 adjacent porphyry (not skarn) prospects at Trundle)
- at shallower depths (all open pit targets, ex following up the recent Southern Extension Zone discovery and the 34m @ 1.45g/t Au and 0.25% Cu in hole TRDD032, including 2m @ 19.9g/t Au and 2.43% Cu driven by a very fine porphyry vein, with this deep follow up hole hopefully supported with cooperative funding from the NSW government), and,
- very much benefiting from the learning’s of previous drilling and the mineralised system controls.
The Dunn’s target is a great example of the outcome of the recent reviews, change in drilling strategy focus and looking to increase the scale potential / upside from this drilling program (and noting Dunn’s is adjacent to the north from Trundle Park and where we have been drilling so very transferable knowledge from Trundle Park to Dunn’s).
Dunn’s hosts porphyry intrusions Newcrest confirmed to be the same as Cadia Hill and Northparkes (according to petrology and fertility analysis). However, this has not been followed up despite some decent numbers from and near surface – eg 10m @ 1.99g/t gold from only 36m to end of hole with a subsequently defined chargeability high defined by the TyphoonTM survey by Robert Friedland’s HPX and coincident magnetic shoulder on the margin of this mineralisation.
Kincora’s 2022 air-core program picked up some interesting intrusions at the bottom of the hole, some with good gold geochemistry, on the other side of this geophysical feature.
Kincora’s upcoming drill program is seeking to leverage results to date at a series of large and shallow targets testing world-class potential and support Kincora’s concept of Trundle hosting a quarter of the Northparkes Igneous Complex.
