The latest results from the recently completed 5000m Firetail Resources (ASX:FTL) diamond drill campaign were headlined by an intercept of 17.6m at 2.1% CuEq from 170.3m.

The new results include some of the deepest high-grade intercepts Firetail has seen across the known mineralised envelope, coming off the back of assays which have continued to surpass expectations.

Despite putting in considerable cash and returning high-grade results, Skyline’s previous owner decided to shift its focus to rare earths, and Firetail was more than happy to take up the mantle of an underexplored project.

Work since then has rapidly turned Skyline into a flagship asset for its new owner, whose positive sentiment for the potential of high-grade copper in Newfoundland is shared by investors.

The project came with the existing York Harbour VMS deposit, which produced high-grade copper from a small mine over a century ago, and Firetail is seeing similar potential from a newly uncovered area known as the Governor’s Target Zone.

Firetail managing director Glenn Poole said these latest intercepts confirmed the continuity of a previously defined mineralised zone, extensions at depth and the exciting growth potential it saw at Skyline.

“The team is now focused on the next step in our exploration strategy – which is to refine targets at the Governor’s Target Zone, located on the western limb of the prospective VMS horizon,” Poole said.

“This area has a significant number of historical mining related disturbances and mineral occurrences, along with numerous conceptual targets.”

Poole said the information and results regarding geophysics and rock characteristics from maiden drilling had proven invaluable in defining the Governor’s target zone, and it now had a method providing direct analogies back to the York Harbour Mine Zone.

“This geophysics-driven targeting indicates that the Governor’s Target Zone has the potential to match, if not exceed, what we are seeing at the York Harbour Mine,” he said.

“We are excited to get back on the ground to advance our understanding of this highly prospective zone as we continue to unlock and understand the significant mineralised potential of the area.”

New significant results include:

  • 6m at 2.1% CuEq (2.0% Cu, 0.3% Zn, 3.3g/t Ag) from 170.3m

– Including 7.1m at 3.6% CuEq (3.4% Cu, 0.4% Zn, 5.0g/t Ag) from 179.0m

  • 6m at 2.9% CuEq (2.8% Cu, 0.1% Zn, 2.8g/t Ag) from 140m

Skyline had never been subject to the full airborne electromagnetic survey considered instrumental in finding VMS mineralisation, and Firetail has continued to refine its approach.

The company said processing of historical data has provided it with a direct targeting method for VMS mineralisation, and it has now identified multiple undrilled coincident features across 1200m of strike at the Governor’s Target Zone correlating with VMS occurrences with grades of up to 1.37% copper.

Firetail also has tendering underway for a 3DIP survey, set to soon begin across the priority exploration area with greater capacity to target conductive features at depth.

Petrophysical studies are also ongoing to refine Firetail’s targeting methods as it ponders its lower priority projects.

The company said it was evaluating divestment opportunities across its Australian portfolio, but will be keeping its Peruvian Picha project in the fold with a new priority porphyry target to investigate with the BHP Xplor team at its back.