Caspin Resources identifies potential large porphyry copper-style system at Duchess prospect of Mount Squires Project

Caspin Resources Ltd (ASX:CPN) has identified a potential porphyry copper-style geochemical signature at the new Duchess prospect within the Mount Squires Project in Western Australia. Around 675 close-spaced soil geochemical samples were collected over the Handpump structural corridor utilising an ultra-fine fraction assay technique well suited to sandy soil conditions. The survey has detected a molybdenum-lead/copper-gold anomaly covering an area of at least 2 square kilometres, around 4 kilometres southeast of the Handpump prospect, referred to as the Duchess prospect. This zonation is characteristic of deeply weathered porphyry copper systems in which copper, gold and lead are usually strongly leached, whilst more immobile elements such as molybdenum remain in-situ, proximal to mineralisation in the core of the system. Additional zonation effects are observed in tin, thallium, bismuth and selenium, which are all common elements found in halos around intrusive porphyry systems. "Results warrant further exploration" Caspin chief executive officer Greg Miles said the results were a timely reminder of the opportunity that existed at the Mount Squires Project. He said: “The Mount Squires Project is vast, under-explored but highly prospective and we can make significant advancements rapidly with relatively small investments in new data. “We’ve previously identified gold mineralisation at the Handpump Prospect that demonstrated evidence of mineralising processes at the project, but this is now dwarfed by the scale of the potential Porphyry Copper style system at the Duchess Prospect. “In addition, we’ve now identified an interesting IP anomaly between Handpump and Duchess that is also consistent with a porphyry mineralisation model. “The results warrant further exploration, and we are currently planning work programs to be conducted in parallel with our Yarawindah Brook activities, giving our investors further exposure to a large-scale discovery.” The Duchess prospect has not been drill tested with almost all the previous drilling focussed at the Handpump prospect. Anomaly adjacent to Handpump An IP survey was completed across the Handpump prospect by previous explorers in 2010, consisting of a gradient array grid to map shallow IP/resistivity, and a single line of Dipole-Dipole IP to add some depth constraints to the anomalies seen in the gradient array data. Caspin re-processed the Dipole-Dipole data and generated a new inversion model, extending below the 200 metres depth limit of the historical model. The new model confirms a zone of shallow chargeability, coincident with the historical gradient array anomaly, strongly associated with the known gold mineralisation at the Handpump prospect. Significantly, however, a second feature has emerged from this reprocessing that appears to represent a deeper chargeability anomaly below the depth of investigation of the gradient array survey. This deeper anomaly is a consistent feature in all recent inversion model iterations and potentially represents sulphide mineralisation, which has not been drill tested. Detailed magnetic data for the Handpump area provides further support for this deeper IP anomaly. Caspin considers that this magnetic feature might represent a magmatic intrusion associated with the Handpump mineralised system. Next steps The company has identified several fronts on which to advance Mount Squires: Undertake a new IP survey over the Duchess Prospect to identify potential sulphide mineralisation that may represent a blind Porphyry Copper style deposit; Simultaneously conduct a reconnaissance-style drilling program across the Duchess Prospect to test Au and Cu mineralisation beneath the weathering zone. A suitable drill rig is currently being sourced; Drill test the Handpump IP anomaly - this would be a separate program from the reconnaissance drill program requiring a rig with greater depth capabilities; and Extend the soil geochemistry program further to the southeast along the Handpump structural corridor. Nickel-copper potential Caspin is also evaluating the nickel-copper sulphide potential on the eastern side of the Mount Squires Project area. Its tenure covers the strike-extension of the 40-kilometre-long, east-northeast trending West Musgrave mineralised corridor. The known mineralised extent of this corridor extends from Suez prospect in the east to the One Tree Hill prospect outside the immediate eastern lease boundary of the company’s Mt Squires project. This West Musgrave corridor hosts major ore deposits at Babel, Nebo and Succoth (owned by OZ Minerals Ltd - ASX:OZL), together with several other prospects. Therefore, an aerial electromagnetic survey over an area of around 100 square kilometres is being planned to cover this corridor and projected strike extension.