Hardway, located between the mining centres of Cloncurry and Mt Isa, returned an interesting mix of oxide copper and total rare earth and yttrium oxides in a single hole completed late in the year, with the REE zone dominated by heavy rare earths.
With electromagnetics suggesting a conductor coincident with historical copper workings on the property, it completed a further 1765m of wide-spaced drilling and the results have delivered even better results.
The headline result delivered 57m at 1% copper from surface, including 10m at 2.87% copper, 0.11 grams per tonne gold and 0.09% TREYO from 25m.
A further hole returned 58m at 0.55% copper from surface, including 24m at 1.06% copper and 0.2% TREYO from 14m. That hole ended in mineralisation.
Individual assays of up to 1.2% TREYO, including maximum individual values of 0.40% yttrium oxide, 0.06% dysprosium oxide and 0.15% neodymium oxide.
Cobalt was also involved in multiple holes with maximum individual assay of 1m at 0.21% within 13m at 0.09% from 38m.
Hammer has already started planning further drilling targeting the main 500m of strike, within the 2km long trend, to help define the best zones.
The deeper conductors are still to be tested.
Hammer has also defined a new prospect, Easy Life, just 1.2km south-west of the main Hardway workings as a priority target. Rock chipping suggests HREE are also dominant.
Hardway sits in the same Corella Formation that hosts numerous deposits and prospects in the region, including Hammer’s Kalman deposit, where it recently announced a 39% increase in resources to 39.2Mt at 1.07% copper equivalent for 500,000t contained CuEq, just shy of its target of 530,000t CuEq.
The company’s focus has now moved to high-grade Mount Hope copper targets.
Hammer started the quarter with A$2.6 million cash.
