Sedimentary/stratiform deposits have been in and out of vogue...

Sedimentary/stratiform deposits have been in and out of vogue for the past few years, seemingly driven by the success of Ivanhoe in the Congo. They accumualte in a strange geological setting, more akin to an oil/gas play, due to the requirement for a 'trap' at a redox boundary, often by pyritic shale or hydrocarbon hosting sediments, which provide the chemical conditions for precipitating out copper from the source fluids. There are three main varieties, depending on host formation chemistry and what type of redox boundary is present. They also share some geological similarities with some uranium depositional models. There is a variable role attributed to the salinity of the basin where they form, theorized to require an inland sea type environment prior to the intusion of copper bearing fluids. The copper concentrate produce can be of very high tenor with chalcocite and bornite commonly occurring in abundance closer to the 'heart' of the deposit grading out to chalcopyrite/bornite, chalcopyrite, chalcopyrite/pyrite and then pyrite as you approach the edges. Higher than background Zinc/lead can form a geochemical 'halo', a good indicator of where one may be in the system.

They often carry cobalt or silver credits, but rarely both. They are generally tabular, relatively thin and laterally extensive, flat lying or shallow dip. That being said they can be very economically rewarding, with rather cheap mine design in both shallow and deep environments. You could research KCGM in Poland and Ivanhoe in the DRC for an idea of how long lived and productive these can be.

At a brief glance, it looks like the best intercepts were to the south east, where one of the formations tapers off, so I would be looking for step outs in that direction. 8m at 1% at only 80m deep seems plausible as an economic mine if you can step it out by a kilometer or so, you'd ideally be hoping for over 100mt of resource. I'd like to see magnetics, ip and density for the area to aid in targeting.

Watching closely, but not buying in yet.