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(Sharecast News) - Empire Metals announced successful results from its maiden reverse circulation drill programme at the Pitfield Project in Western Australia on Tuesday, which confirmed the presence of a vast hydrothermal mineral system enriched in titanium and copper.
The AIM-traded firm said the drilling revealed the presence of a massive mineral system spanning around 40 kilometres by eight kilometres.
It said the system was hosted by sedimentary rocks that displayed extensive evidence of intense alteration by hydrothermal fluids.
Those fluids were believed to be responsible for the significant enrichment of copper and titanium in the sedimentary host rocks.
The drilling identified a new high-grade titanium discovery, with consistently high titanium grades found in thick intersections across a wide area within the mineral system.
Titanium-rich mineralisation, containing between 4% and 10% titanium dioxide, was present in all but one of the 21 holes drilled.
The mineralization started at or near the surface, and nearly a quarter of the holes ended with high titanium dioxide values at depths of up to 154 metres.
Empire said the drill samples reported highly anomalous copper values, with over 60% of the intervals displaying copper values exceeding 100 parts per million.
The average copper content was 131 parts per million, peaking at 605 parts per million, which was over 25 times higher than the background copper-in-soil levels.
It said those findings indicated the significant presence of copper within the giant mineral system, suggesting the potential for multiple copper deposits in other areas of the system.
The presence of chalcopyrite - a copper-iron sulphide mineral - was confirmed through petrographic analysis and reverse circulation chip logging in samples with elevated copper assay values.
Finally, Empire said just 2% of the giant mineral system had been drilled thus far, highlighting the potential for additional discoveries through future drilling.
It said it was already planning further drilling to explore the mineral system.
"We are absolutely thrilled with the results of our maiden drilling campaign," said managing director Shaun Bunn.
"Our research over the past year pointed to the presence of a newly-recognised giant copper mineral system at Pitfield, in itself no minor feat, however the results announced today add a whole new dimension to this globally important asset - the discovery of titanium rich minerals in my view tells us we have a 'land of giants' to explore.
"The scale, strength and consistency of the mineralised system cannot be overemphasised given that the drill holes were spaced several hundreds of metres to tens of kilometres apart, and that 53% of all samples collected contain an average 5.12% titanium dioxide, and 60% were anomalous in copper."
Bunn said more work was "clearly" required, not least because 98% of the mineralised system was still to be drilled, adding that the company had evidently tagged an "enormous, titanium-rich" part of the system.
"Based on the scale of this find, Pitfield has the potential to be one of the largest primary titanium sources discovered globally.
"Additional analysis is underway as we work to understand the magnitude and potential commercial value of this titanium mineral discovery within such a unique geological setting.
"However, it is also evident that this giant mineral system contains significant copper and these first-round results have also indicated to us where the more copper rich parts of this regionally zoned system may be."
At 1630 BST, shares in Empire Metals were up 61.29% at 3p.
Reporting by Josh White for Sharecast.com.
