Ashburton Minerals identifies biggest copper anomaly to date at Mt Webb

Ashburton Minerals (ASX: ATN) continues to unlock the potential of the Mt Webb project, and have now discovered the largest copper anomaly to date.

Using ground gravity and aircore geochemical drilling programs, the new anomaly was identified at the Pokali prospect, which is almost 400 metres in length.

This is defined by the 0.1% copper contour, and is substantially larger than prior copper anomalies in the vicinity.

The significance of the anomaly is that it was discovered beneath transported sand cover by the recent geochemical drilling program, and lies adjacent to the zone that has so far returned the best intercept from Pokali.

This zone is the extensive 246 metres at 0.22% copper, which lies peripheral to past drilling, delivering Ashburton a high priority drilling target that is further supported by observed vectors towards increased copper mineralisation.

Importantly - the geochemical drilling program also identified a number of gold anomalies in the central part of the project area, including a coincident gold-platinum-palladium anomaly.

The Mt Webb project comprises five exploration licences, totalling 1,270 square kilometres in area situated in eastern Western Australia, abutting the Northern Territory border.


A multi-commodity Mt Webb

The gold and gold-platinum anomalies will be followed up next season with a detailed infill geochemical survey.

Ashburton said that the presence of two adjoining anomalies, spaced 1 kilometre apart, suggests the potential for a sizeable gold-mineralised system in the area.

These latest results further confirm the untapped potential of the Mt Webb project for a range of commodities, highlighted by two drill holes located 1 kilometre apart intersecting gold - which is over an area that has not yet been geochemically tested.


The geochemical program

The regional geochemical program comprised 233 vertical aircore holes drilled through transported sand cover to sample underlying bedrock.

Holes averaged between 2 metres and 12 metres in depth, intersecting various lithologies dominated by undifferentiated chloritic schist.

Drill holes were broadly spaced on a nominal 1 kilometre by 1 kilometre grid across the western and central parts of the project area.

An additional 31 holes were drilled along the eastern and southern extensions of the Pokali prospect on 50 metre centres in order to determine if copper mineralisation continued beneath sand cover beyond Pokali hill.

Interestingly, six of these holes returned values of 0.17% copper or higher, with a peak of 0.5% copper.

The outcome for Ashburton is the resulting anomaly defines a high order drilling target, with all indications suggesting the potential for a significant body of copper mineralisation beneath the target.


Potential drill testing in the current field season

To follow up these very prospective targets, Ashburton is investigating the possibility of securing a drilling rig to test the target before the end of the 2011 field season.


Looking for additional projects

Tom Dukovcic, managing director, told Proactive Investors today that the company is on the lookout for a gold focused project to replace the Obi Gold Project in Indonesia, where the company earlier in the week elected to not exercise an option to proceed to stage three.

"We are not ruling out Indonesia, as we have already built up significant contacts, and are looking for a project with the underlying potential to grow into a large deposit."

Originally published at: http://www.proactiveinvestors.com.au/companies/news/20407/ashburton-minerals-identifies-biggest-copper-anomaly-to-date-at-mt-webb-20407.html