The first four exploration holes drilled from an underground cuddy to follow up on the discovery of the northern extension of the Kora Vein at K92 Mining’s Kainantu project in Papua New Guinea have all intersected mineralisation. The intersections include high grades of copper, gold and silver.
Best result in one hole was 3.4 metres @ 9.94 g/t gold, 55 g/t silver and 5.97% copper, including 0.35 metres at 28.4 g/t gold, 157 g/t silver and 12.8% copper. Another hole returned 4.45 metres @ 9.2 g/t gold, 7.71 g/t silver and 0.51% copper, including 1.15 metres @ 32.47 g/t gold, 15.2 g/t silver and 1.03% copper.
The results over a strike length of approximately 100 metres confirm K92’s initial interpretation that the Kora Vein extends 500 metres to the north from the closest point of the currently defined Kora deposit inferred resource.
Additional to these results, face sampling at Kora has also returned high-grade assay results. Face sampling and mapping has at times recorded massive chalcopyrite, with the best intersection recorded to date being 0.5 metres @ 475.28 g/t gold, 161.1 g/t silver and 7.25% copper.
Face sampling carried out to date on every new Kora face as part of a grade control process within this newly discovered extension area has returned an average grade of approximately 7 g/t gold and 1% copper.
K92’s CEO John Lewins said, “The results from the first four diamond holes drilled from underground covering a strike length of some 100 metres have confirmed our interpretation that the Kora Vein system extends some 500 metres to the north of the existing inferred resource.
“Further, face sampling to-date has consistently recorded the presence of the vein system, with some extremely high grade zones of mineralisation encountered.
“We are continuing to drill this northern extension, both along strike and up and down dip as well as developing along strike in both a southerly and northerly direction. These results, combined with the excellent results achieved from processing the first part of the bulk sample from Kora give us increasing confidence in the immediate potential of this northern extension.”
K92 has also recently announced positive results from treating the first 800 tonnes of material from an initial 2000 tonne bulk sample from the interpreted Kora vein.
The sample was mined from a 4x4 metre horizontal development designed to reflect the production stoping width envisaged in the Preliminary Economic Assessment (PEA). The average grade of the first 800 tonnes of material treated was 7.7 g/t gold and 0.91 % copper, which is consistent with that predicted from grade control face sampling underground.
The gold recovery achieved was 92.4% and the copper recovery was 95.6%. K92 says 34 tonnes of concentrate at an average grade of 163 g/t gold and 20% copper containing 177 ounces of gold and 6.8 tonnes of copper was produced from the 800 tonne sample.
John Lewins said, “The results are significantly better than we had anticipated and are above the 91.5% recovery assumed in the PEA and even more impressive when considering that this is the first batch of material treated and was achieved without a gravity gold circuit. It is our expectation that further optimisation should improve on this performance as will the introduction of a gravity gold circuit.”
K92 Mining