("Tertiary" or the "Company")
New drill holes demonstrate the northerly continuation of thick, near surface silver mineralisation over a 300m width at Target A1, Mushima North
The analytical results from the new drillholes support the previously reported northern continuation of the thick near surface mineralisation defined by only one drill hole until now, extends over a width of approximately 300m. Silver mineralisation has now been intersected in drilling over a 350m by 300m area, and remains open to the north, south and at depth.
Mushima North is located in the prospective Iron-Oxide-Copper-Gold region of
Highlights:
· Drill intersections include:
· 64m at 26 g/t Ag, 0.13% Cu and 0.21% Zn from 2m downhole (Hole 25TMNAC-027).
§ Including: 20m at 36 g/t Ag, 0.13% Cu and 0.27% Zn from 46m downhole.
· 44m at 39 g/t Ag, 0.17% Cu and 0.37% Zn from 8m downhole (Hole 25TMNAC-028).
§ Including: 15m at 63g/t Ag, 0.13% Cu and 0.56% Zn from 33m downhole.
§ And: 16m at 1.59% Zn from 56m downhole.
· Mineralisation, including higher grade zones, remains open to the north, south and at depth.
· Results include the highest grades of zinc (3.35%) and antimony (0.21%) intersected to date from certified laboratory analytical results on the Project.
· Additional drill hole results expected in the coming weeks testing both northern and southern continuation of mineralisation.
· Initial mineralogical/metallurgical work now underway.
"We are delighted to report further extension of the silver mineralisation at Target A1. These results support the continuation of the near surface, thick mineralisation to the north over a substantial width. The silver mineralisation footprint is at least 350m by 300m and remains open to the north and south, and at depth.
"The new results continue to define higher grade silver intersections within the broader silver-copper-zinc mineralisation, for example 15m at 63 g/t silver within 44m at 39 g/t silver in hole 25TMNAC-028. The grade continuity along and between holes is excellent and the results further support our bulk tonnage, open pit silver exploration model.
"The additional analytical results expected over the coming weeks are from holes that tested the continuation of the mineralisation to both the north and south. In addition, the initial mineralogical/metallurgical studies are now underway. We believe this could represent a significant discovery for the company and eagerly await these results and I look forward to updating our shareholders in due course."
Phase 2 Drill Programme
As previously reported, the Phase 2 drill programme consisted of 1,116m of combined Air Core ("AC") and Reverse Circulation ("RC") drilling along a series of east-west drill lines spaced between 100m and 250m apart, north-south. Holes were collared approximately 100m apart along the east-west lines and drilled to the maximum depth possible at the time based on the drill rig capabilities and geological ground conditions (the bit refusal depth). The deepest drill hole in this programme was 99m and the average hole depth 70m. Combined Phase 1 and 2 drilling covers a surface footprint of approximately 1,680m by 550m.
The three drill holes now being reported, and described below, are located on the same east-west drill traverse and form a four-hole line with the previously reported hole 25TMNAC-026. This traverse, 8507150N, lies approximately 225m to the north of Phase 1 drill traverse 8506925N and the holes were designed to test the continuation of mineralisation to the north from drill line 8506925N.
· 25TMNAC-027: Located approximately 100m west of 25TMNAC-026 and drilled to the east (inclined -60°) to a downhole depth of 66m. The hole was designed to test the continuation of the mineralisation to the north from drill line 8506925N.
· 25TMNAC-028: Located approximately 100m west of 25TMNAC-027 and drilled to the east (inclined -60°) to a downhole depth of 72m. The hole was designed to test the continuation of the mineralisation to the north from drill line 8506925N.
· 25TMNAC-029: Located approximately 100m west of 25TMNAC-029 and drilled to the east (inclined -60°) to a downhole depth of 99m. The hole was designed to test the continuation of the mineralisation to the north from drill line 8506925N.
Table 1. Phase 2 (Target A1) analytical results (three holes only, other analytical results from remainder of the drilling programme awaited). Equivalent grades ("Eq") are for illustrative purposes only.
Note to Table 1 and 2:
· Calculated intersections (downhole, true widths unknown) are weighted averages based on silver, using a cut-off grade of 10 g/t Ag. Intervals start and end with ≥10 g/t Ag and with up to 3m consecutive internal dilution allowed.
· Silver values rounded to whole numbers.
· EOH means End of Hole.
· CuEq (%) and AgEq (g/t) are the copper and silver equivalent grades, respectively, and were calculated assuming commodity prices of Cu:
· Gram metres for silver are the silver values (g/t) multiplied by the intervals (m).
Target A1
Target A1 is a large copper-in-soil anomaly (3.1km by 1.7km) with copper values up to 302ppm (per Portable X-Ray Fluorescence, "pXRF") associated with a 1.7km by 0.5km zinc- and coincidental 1.3km by 0.3km silver-in-soil anomaly.
Phase 1 drilling in 2024 targeted the copper-in-soil anomaly and returned broad but generally low-grade copper mineralisation (e.g. 59m at 0.2% Cu from 10m downhole, hole 24TMNAC-004). Higher grade copper mineralisation within these broader zones was also returned (e.g. 6m at 0.58% Cu within 33m at 0.21% Cu, from 22m downhole, hole 24TMNAC-024). Drilling over the silver- and zinc-in-soil anomaly (drill line: 8506925N) identified wide and thick, near surface silver mineralisation associated with low-grade copper and/or zinc mineralisation.
The silver mineralisation has now been confirmed to extend for approximately 350m by 300m laterally and to a depth from near surface to 84m. However, the silver mineralisation remains open-ended both to the north, south and at depth. The mineralisation at Target A1 is associated with a massive, haematitic and carbonaceous silty-sandy conglomerate. Where visible, copper mineralisation is in the form of secondary copper minerals malachite and chrysocolla. The mineralogical speciation of silver and zinc is yet to be determined. Elevated bismuth (up to 991 g/t), and the critical metals antimony (up to 0.21%) and gallium (up to 40 g/t) are also associated with the mineralisation in places.
Drilling results (previously reported) from the Phase 1 and 2 drilling programmes are presented in Table 2 below.
Table 2. Selected silver intersections from Phase 1 and 2 drilling from Target A1. Equivalent grades ("Eq") are for illustrative purposes only. See Table 2 for notes.
The Mushima North (silver-copper-zinc) Project (Licence 27068-HQ-LEL) is held through Group company
The Project's western boundary lies 20km to the east of the Kalengwa copper-silver mine in northwest
Several prospective targets have been defined thus far within the Project based on reviews of historic geochemical and geophysical survey data against the current exploration model developed by Tertiary (Targets A1, A2, B1, B2, B3 and C1). At the end of the summer 2024, Tertiary completed an initial (Phase 1) 25 AC drill hole programme (1,274m) to test parts of geochemical (copper-in-soil) anomalies at Targets A1 and C1. This limited and shallow drilling indicated wide downhole intervals of largely coincidental copper, zinc and silver mineralisation at Target A1. The other geochemical and/or geophysical targets (A2, B1, B2 and B3) are yet to be drill tested.
The Project is held under a technical cooperation agreement with First Quantum Minerals Limited ("FQM"), which allows Tertiary to benefit from FQM's historic exploration data in the area, as well as FQM's geological team's extensive experience and understanding of the area's geology. The agreement is non-binding to any further agreement and there are no commercial restrictions for Tertiary, nor does FQM have a right of first refusal over the Project. Further details can be found in the news release of
Sampling, Analysis and QAQC
Sampling from the drilling programme was undertaken at 1m intervals and two subsamples were collected from each interval using a riffle splitter: one for potential laboratory analysis, the other for future reference.
Samples were initially analysed on site using a pXRF analyser for zinc and copper. Analysis protocol included multiple point (three) analyses per sample (unprepared sample analysed through a thin plastic sample bag) and the inclusion of Certified Reference Material, blanks and duplicate samples as part of an internal Quality Assurance ("QA") procedure. Given the nature of the unprepared sample and point analysis, this method was used as a preliminary exploration technique to provide an approximate quantitative measure of copper and zinc mineralisation only.
Samples from selected drill holes based on the initial pXRF results were then sent to the independent laboratory ALS Global in
Reported drill hole intersection thicknesses are downhole thicknesses and true thicknesses are unknown. Intersections are weighted averages based on silver, using a cut-off grade of 10 g/t Ag with up to 3m consecutive internal dilution and intervals starting and ending with ≥10 g/t Ag.
Further Information:
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+44 (0) 1625 838 679 |
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Nominated Adviser and Broker |
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+44 (0) 203 470 0470 |
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Joint Broker |
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+44 (0) 207 469 0930 |
Market Abuse Regulation
The information contained within this announcement is deemed by the Company to constitute inside information as stipulated under the Market Abuse Regulation (EU) No. 596/2014 as it forms part of
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Competent Persons Statement
The technical information in this release has been compiled and reviewed by Dr.
About
Figure 1. Location map of Target A1 showing soil sample results for copper and zinc and the collar locations for the 2024 and 2025 drill programme.
Figure 2. Drill cross-section 8507150N (location on Figure 1) showing analytical results for silver for drill holes 25TMNAC-027, 25TMNAC-028 and 25TMNAC-029. Analytical results for 25TMNAC-040 is awaited. See Table 1 notes for further information.
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