(Sharecast News) - Brazil-focussed miner and developer Serabi Gold updated the market on exploration at the Matilda Copper Prospect in the Tapajos region of Para State on Tuesday.
The AIM-traded firm said the exploration efforts occurred through its alliance with Vale.
It said the 2023 drilling programme at Matilda, launched in April and finished in November, totalled 7,597.21 metres drilled from 21 holes and was divided into two phases.
The first phase consisted of holes 23-MT-001 to 23-MT-010, while the second included holes 23-MT-011 to 23-MT-021.
Serabi said the drilling campaign was centred on investigating the primary Matilda soil geochemistry anomaly, initially examined in 2022 with three exploration holes.
So far, the company received results from 19 of the 21 drill holes at Matilda, with 12 yielding promising grades exceeding 0.2% copper over downhole intervals higher than 10 metres.
At hole 23-MT-010, it reported 21.45 metres at 0.4% copper and 0.11 grams of gold per tonne from 95.55 metres, while hole 23-MT-015 returned 25 metres at 0.34% copper and 0.09 grams of gold per tonne from 107 metres.
Hole 23-MT-016 meanwhile displayed 34 metres at 0.34% copper and 0.1 grams of gold per tonne from 142 metres.
The firm said the drilling efforts delineated a shallow mineralised zone with an exploration target, estimated to range between 21 million tonnes at 0.4$ copper to 81 million tonnes at 0.28% copper.
It noted that the potential volume and grade remained conceptual due to the need for further exploration to define a mineral resource.
The system also remained open for exploration in the northwest, southeast, and at depth.
Besides Matilda, Serabi said it was actively investigating other copper-gold systems within the same geological environment, with encouraging anomalies and positive results noted in the Ganso and Cinderela targets.
Additionally, in November, a 26-kilometre terrestrial geophysics induced polarisation (IP) pole-dipole survey was conducted over Matilda as part of geological investigations.
Serabi said it was processing, integrating, and interpreting the collected data, which it said would play a crucial role in drillhole targeting for the 2024 programme.
"We are excited about the positive results we have received from the Matilda prospect and to intersect porphyry mineralisation in 12 out of 19 holes is very encouraging indeed," said chief executive officer Mike Hodgson.
"The drilling has continued to expand our geological understanding of the system.
"We believe that the Matilda prospect is still in its infancy and has much more to deliver."
Hodgson said that first stage drilling into porphyry systems would typically be in the region of 15,000 to 20,000 metres, so Serabi was "delighted" with the results after just 7,500 metres.
"The drilling indicates the copper potential remains open along the strike and at depth, especially because of results received for the recent holes MT-018 and MT-012.
"Matilda's geological characterisation as an Alkalic Porphyry style system helps guide our exploration strategy and suggests that further results can come from deeper drilling.
"Additionally, the discovery of new potential porphyry systems at Ganso and Cinderela, in addition to the other discoveries in the region, are advancing the Tapajos province as an emerging copper province in the north of Brazil, and Serabi's land package and quality data puts us in an ideal position to take advantage of this.
"The company's exposure to base metal demand through the Vale alliance as well as its growth in gold production primarily at Coringa positions the company well, and we look forward to an exciting year in 2024."
At 1306 GMT, shares in Serabi Gold were down 3.66% at 34.2p.
Reporting by Josh White for Sharecast.com.
Serabi (SRB)