Kincora Copper has commenced ground magnetic and gravity surveys at its Red Well licence in southern Mongolia. Red Well is about 40km north of the Oyu Tolgoi concentrate plant and immediately to the north of a Turquoise Hill Resources’ licence on which its majority owner Rio Tinto is drilling.
Limited previous exploration across the immediate Red Well region has identified outcropping volcanic rocks with localised malachite staining. The volcanics continue into both the eastern and western sections of the licence.
At the eastern margin of the licence an historic rock chip sample returned 2% copper, 0.25 g/t gold, 1.5 g/t silver, 0.25% arsenic and zinc, 0.08% lead, 0.002% molybdenum and bismuth, with further copper and other anomalies identified to the immediate west.
Historic airborne magnetic data suggests that the cover sequence to the north of the outcrop in the central third of the licence is shallow, with a historic regional Induced Polarisation (IP) target across the central portion of the licence.
Kincora’s president and CEO Sam Spring said: “The immediate and general regional setting of Red Well is considered to be highly prospective. Capital constrained field activities since securing the licence last year have provided encouraging geological indications with positive fertility results, sodic-calcic alteration, with smears of malachite within volcanics located in the central portion of the licence.
“Recent drilling activities by Rio Tinto based on geophysical targets on the licence immediately adjacent to the south along the general NNE arc transverse trend from Oyu Tolgoi also provides encouragement,” he said. This is the first regional drilling by any major group since 2012.
Sam Spring said, “Ongoing ground magnetic and gravity surveys are expected to advance our interpretation of Red Well and refine target generation for follow up exploration.
“The recent direct private placement with EBRD has further strengthened our balance sheet supporting an acceleration of exploration activities. First phase drilling and initial follow up geophysics has already be completed at the first Devonian target, East Tsagaan Suvarga, and drilling is ongoing at our second target, Bayan Tal.
“These activities support the first modern systematic Tier 1 copper porphyry drill testing and district scale reconnaissance exploration program in the Devonian copper belt with current geophysics are advancing Red Well as target 3, with plans currently refining targets 4 and 5 within the dominant ground position we hold across the Oyu Tolgoi-Tsagaan Suvarga Devonian belt.”
On February 29, 2016, Kincora announced that it had been granted a new exploration licence named Ulaan Khudag (Red Well) by the Mineral Resources and Petroleum Authority of Mongolia (MRPAM), following the eastern section of the country only being opened up for only six months in the second half of 2015 following a 5-year moratorium for issuing new exploration licences.
Kincora Copper