Desoto rock chips add weight to Fenix’s copper-gold potential

Desoto appears to be on track with rock chip sampling at its Fenix project in the Northern Territory returning the highest gold and copper grades of 4.1 g/t and 6.5% respectively.

The results not only confirm the copper-gold potential of the Copperfield prospect, they also extend its area of known mineralization with 860m north-northwest of historic rock chips of up to 3.54 grams per tonne (g/t) gold and 15 ,2% copper.

To add further interest, first pass soil sampling also confirmed and extended the strike length of the historic soil gold anomaly at the Emerald Springs Antiline target to approximately 900m.

Desoto Resources (ASX:DES) now intends to drill test both the Copperfield and Emerald Springs copper-gold targets as part of the wider Fenton gold drilling programme.

Top results and new targets

“We are very pleased with these initial copper-gold assays from the Fenix project which confirm the potential of the project to deliver high grade results and new targets for drill testing,” said Chris Swallow, managing director of DES.

“The results from Copperfield and Emerald Springs also demonstrate the future nature of the Pine Creek Oregon, host to multiple world-class deposits.

“These results, as well as the pending tests, demonstrate the company’s ability to generate exploration targets from largely greenfield areas of interest, with most of the project untested by modern exploration techniques.”

Sampling and mapping work at the Shoobridge West and Shoobridge East prospects will be completed during the second quarter of this year.

Fenix sampling

Initial exploration mapping and sampling at Fenix consisted of 81 samples taken across the three licenses – EL31356, EL31899 and EL32148 – that comprise the project.

It is designed to validate existing data sets in the field, confirm historical targets and conduct a regolith assessment to determine the suitability of the new project area for soil sampling.

A total of 35 samples were taken from Copperfield, an 8 km2 area with numerous small historical copper-gold workings especially in the east where up to 2g/t gold and 0.32% copper were recorded in separate rock chips.

At Emerald Springs, the initial field program confirmed that the local geology is a gold-prospecting Pine Creek antcline position containing the Koolpin and Welltree Formation stratigraphy and Zamu Dolerite at the southern extent of the Burrundie Dome.

The soil sampling defined a consistent > 20 parts per billion gold anomaly over a 900m strike associated with elevated arsenic values.

This article was developed in collaboration with Desoto Resources, a Stockhead advertiser at the time of publication.

This article is not financial product advice. You should consider seeking independent advice before making any financial decisions.

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