I hate to say this, but the porphyry in those photos looks more like my kitchen bench than an orebody worth blasting away 380m of overlying rock to get at. Not a speck of visible sulphide. I took one look at those photos this morning and sold the lot.
HappyCats, in my opinion you are a wise man!
And now I won't touch this one again either until we get the assay results, and probably not then if what I think I am looking at is correct.
Of course, I may be completely wrong.
Here are the positives I see:
1. You simply cannot see 0.5% Cu and 1.0 g/t gold in photographs of that resolution. You'd need to put a handlens on fresh core to even have a clue. So this porphyry intersection may still carry ecomonic grades over its entire length.
2. There is definite grade in the overlying breccia pipes, so this porphyry may be, though not necessarily is, the source.
3. The company seems sufficently confident of the likely assay results, or unusually ethical, that it appears to be waiting for them before raising further capital.
4. Hole 1 has gone down through breccia pipe that we already know carrys grade, so it seems very unlikely that there will not be a sizeable section of mineralised breccia pipe carrying grade when the assays come out.
Here are the negatives I see:
1. We have no idea how much of the porphyry contains the described chalcopyrite (Cu) and arsenopyrite (tracer for Au), or what percentage of the already lean 1-2% total sulphides reported in it is actually chalco. Many barren igneous rocks have traces of chalcopyrite. It is common.
2. Most orebodies are a real mess when you core them, and have very poor core recovery as a result. This porphyry looks like dimension stone (building material). It wouldn't look out of place cut and polished on the front of a Swiss bank. One major criteria for good dimension stone is no sulphides (they oxidise and spoil the finish)
Yes the porphyry is brecciated, but the top of any intrusive magma body will be brecciated. That's how they move up through the overlying rock: they don't melt their way up; they 'stope' their way up - blocks and fragments of the overlying rock break off and sink down into the magma, and are progressively engulfed and dissolved, whilst the molten porphyry rises up around them to take their place.
To me, most of this brecciation looks like a mixture of stoped off 'xenoliths' and 'autobrecciated' porphyry fragments (porphyry that has cooled and solidified and then been stoped off again by still molten porphyry rising from below). Granted the photo resolution is poor, but it doesn't look very like hydrothermal brecciation to me. I may be wrong, but the black fragments in the first core box look like they may just be broken off, partly dissolved pieces of the overlying volcanics.
3. I have been confidently expecting that, whether or not the porphyry itself made the minimal hoped-for 1% Cu Equivalent grade, there would at least be a 380m drill intersection of grade in the overlying breccia pipe. But the diagram shows the deeper hole, hole 1, starting in breccia pipe, then coming out of it for much of its length, before entering the porphyry much further down. I don't think that is literally the case, or they possibly wouldn't have kept drilling. But it's an unsettling possibility.
But, pay no heed to my thoughts here. I may be completely wrong, and there is is a great deal to like about this prospect, and a great deal that stacks up positively.
Someone did ask what the 'tame geos' thought. So this is my 10 cents worth.
I'm with HappyCats on this one: out till the assays come back. I was taking far too much risk there, and feel lucky to get my money back with a small profit. That's lucky, not clever. The Cat was the clever one in this case.
I would be very interested to hear what you think though CrimsonCarp, re the photos of the porphyry that is? And also to know what field experience you have had of porphyry copper exploration. Your previous posts have implied that you have had a great deal.
Meanwhile, just time for that sandwich..
No negative bias intended, and I may be completely wrong. So please read my disclaimer below and make up your own minds.
(Do not act on anything I say here. Rely on your own research and professional financial advice. I am not a financial adviser and this is not intended as advice.)
ICG Price at posting:
10.5¢ Sentiment: None Disclosure: Not Held
