Meridian Mining UK. S announced further intersections of strong Au-Cu-Ag mineralization from its ongoing drill program at its Cabaçal Cu-Au-Ag project (?Cabaçal?). Recent drill results have returned strong zones of gold-copper-silver mineralization within the open pit shell1, highlighted by CD-492's 13.4m @ 4.6g/t AuEq(3.1% CuEq) from 73.8m, part of a broader zone grading 35.4m @ 2.2g/t AuEq (1.5% CuEq) from 51.8m.
Multiple higher-grade zones of Au-Cu-Ag mineralization grading between 17.0 and 18.6g/t AuEq, including zones of visible gold, are also being reported. Exploration drilling of the mine corridor is commencing with a program to test multiple Cu-Au VMS targets as part of Meridian's strategy to develop the 50km Cabaçal VMS belt. Drilling and resource definition continues at both the Cabaçal and Santa Helena deposits respectively and further assays are pending.
Highlights Reported: Meridian returns strong Au-Cu-Ag mineralization at Cabaçal grading 13.4m @ 4.6g/t AuEq; CD-492: 35.4m @ 2.2g/t AuEq (1.5% CuEq) from 51.8m; Including 13.4m @ 4.6g/t AuEq (3.1% CuEq) from 73.8m; including 1.1m @ 18.6g/t AuEq (12.5% CuEq) from 85.4m); CD-493: 6.9m @2.0g/t AuEq (1.3% CuEq) from 106.5m; Included a 51cm zone of hosting visible gold grading 17.0g/t AuEq from 109.7m; CD-498: 8.2m @ 1.7g/t AuEq (1.1% CuEq) from 45.9m; Cabaçal's PFS geotechnical drilling required for mine and mill infrastructure engineering largely completed; Drilling continues at Santa Helena, with a new bore hole geophysics program commenced; and Commencement of mine-corridor Cu-Au-Ag & Zn exploration drill program testing multiple targets. Cabaçal Update Drilling at Cabaçal has continued, with recent results having been received from the mine environment and the Cabaçal northwest extension (?CNWE?), including results from twin holes filling in gaps in the database where historical data has been lost or only partially preserved. These twin holes target positions with a range of grades through the Eastern, Central, and Southern Copper zones (?ECZ?, ?CCZ?, ?SCZ?).
CD-492 provides a good example of drilling to test mineralization where indications of grade were available from graphic bar charts, not previously used in resource estimation. Upper ranges in the scaled bar chart data are capped at 3.5% Cu and 5.5g/t Au. Highlights from this hole included an upper zone of 14.5m @ 0.6g/t AuEq from 19.0m and 35.4m @ 2.2g/t AuEq from 51.8m.
The grade predicted by comparison from the graphic data in JUSPD-187, the historical hole being twinned, was 16.0m @ 0.4g/t AuEq from 17.0m and 35.6m @ 1.0g/t AuEq from 48.8m. This new data has been provided to the Company's resource consultant for evaluation, who is advancing with updates to geological surfaces and assessment of new and historical results. This includes results from prior twin infill holes CD-470, which returned 16.0m @ 12.5g/t AuEq from 53.3m, including 6.4m @ 30.6g/t AuE Q2, and CD-483, which returned 10.1m @ 2.1g/t AuEq from 9.4m3.
Sound results have been received from other recent holes, even when mining voids have been intersected. In the CNWE, CD-504 returned 1.2m @ 9.8g/t AuEq from 59.5m on the southern margin of the CNWE along with some disseminated intersections, possibly marking a projection of a higher-grade Cu-Au structure, open to the west. CD-493 returned 6.9m @ 2.0g/t AuEq from 106.5m.
CD-513 (SCZ; terminated in void in upper mineralized horizon): 5.3m @ 1.3g/t AuEq /0.9% CuEq (0.2g/t Au, 0.8% Cu & 2.6g/t Ag) from 59.0m. CD-504 (CNWE): 1.0m @ 1.3g/t AuEq /0.9% CuEq (0.1g/t Au, 0.9% Cu & 1.9g/t Ag) from 46.9m; 1.6m @ 0.8g/t AuEq /0.6% CuEq (0.1g/t Au, 0.5% Cu & 1.2g/t Ag) from 54.4m; 1.2m @ 9.8g/t AuEq /6.6% CuEq (1.7g/t Au, 5.4% Cu & 18.7g/t Ag) from 59.5m; 12.6m @ 0.7g/t AuEq /0.5% CuEq (0.3g/t Au, 0.3% Cu & 1.5g/t Ag) from 75.2m; and CD-498 (CCZ; twin of JUSPD-436; mining void between 26.7 - 31.1m): 11.4m @ 1.2g/t AuEq /0.8% CuEq (0.3g/t Au, 0.7% Cu & 1.6g/t Ag) from 15.3m; 8.2m @ 1.7g/t AuEq /1.1% CuEq (1.1g/t Au, 0.4% Cu & 1.7g/t Ag) from 45.9m; CD-493 (CNWE): 5.1m @ 0.6g/t AuEq /0.4% CuEq (0.7g/t Au & 0.1g/t Ag) from 70.2m; 6.9m @ 2.0g/t AuEq /1.3% CuEq (1.3g/t Au, 0.5% Cu & 1.0g/t Ag) from 106.5m; CD-492 (CCZ; twin of JUSPD-187): 14.5m @ 0.6g/t AuEq /0.4% CuEq (0.4% Cu & 0.8g/t Ag) from 19.0m; 35.4m @ 2.2g/t AuEq /1.5% CuEq (0.9g/t Au, 0.9% Cu & 2.8g/t Ag) from 51.8m; CD-491 (SCZ; twin of JUSPD-423; mining void between 72.1 - 76.0m): 7.7m @ 1.3g/t AuEq /0.9% CuEq (0.8g/t Au, 0.4% Cu & 1.4g/t Ag) from 69.4m; 14.8m @ 0.8g/t AuEq /0.6% CuEq (0.2g/t Au, 0.5% Cu & 1.5g/t Ag) from 84.5m; CD-488 (CNWE infill): 9.5m @ 1.2g/t AuEq /0.8% CuEq (0.4g/t Au, 0.5% Cu & 2.1g/t Ag) from 65.9m; 4.1m @ 1.2g/t AuEq /0.8% CuEq (0.2g/t Au, 0.7% Cu & 4.5g/t Ag) from 106.3m; and 15.5m @ 0.9g/t AuEq /0.6% CuEq (0.2g/t Au, 0.5% Cu & 1.6g/t Ag) from 116.4m. Mine Corridor Update Scout drilling has commenced along the ~10km mine corridor, and one rig is being allocated between near-mine extensions and scout drilling of VMS satellite targets in the third and fourth quarter and into 2025.
The related mine corridor geophysical program continues to advance for target definition, with an induced polarization survey having advanced in the Sucuri Cu-Au prospect to the west of Santa Helena. Following the bore hole geophysics campaign and finalization of the Sucuri IP grid, the geophysics team will advance also with work at the Cigarra VMS target and continue with the development of mine corridor drill target definition. This exploration program is part of the hub and spoke development strategy for the 50km of prospective exploration ground that the Cabaçal Cu-Au VMS belt presents, in-house Brazilian team continues engagement with landholders and statutory agencies to expand its footprint for regional exploration programs.
