The Taruga Minerals Ltd (ASX: TAR) share price is going gangbusters, up an extraordinary 69% at time of writing after the company made a high-grade copper discovery at its Mount Craig Project in South Australia.
Taruga Minerals shares are now trading at 10 cents, after starting the day at just 5.9 cents.
Taruga has a tiny market capitalisation of just $46 million but its exploration activities are spread across Africa and Australia. It's focused on the exploration of copper, gold and silver in South Australia, but base metals and lithium in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Its projects also span across Mali, Cote d'Ivoire and Niger.
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Taruga Minerals copper discoveries
Taruga report that all of its 30 reverse circulation (RC) drill holes intercepted visible copper mineralisation or alteration, with the first 5 drill hole assay results confirming high-grade copper discoveries at the company's Wyacca prospect.
Here are those 5 high-grade assay results in full:
- RC Drillhole WCRC006: five metres at 2.4% copper from 17 metres deep, includes one metre at 9.5% copper from 18 metres deep.
- RC Drillhole WCRC021: 11 metres at 1.5% copper from 85 metres deep, includes four metres at 2.7% copper from 85 metres deep, including one metre at 5.9% copper from 88 metres deep.
- RC Drillhole WCRC017: Seven metres at 1.8% copper from 85 metres deep, includes four metres at 3.1% copper from 87 metres deep, including two metres at 3.5% copper from 88 metres deep.
- RC Drillhole WCRC005: Five metres at 0.9% copper from 33 metres deep, includes two metres at 1.7% copper from 34 metres deep, including one metre at 2.7% copper, from 35 metres deep.
The results show a mining trifecta. Not only are the drilling depths very shallow, all below 100 metres deep, and therefore cheaper open-pit mining, but grades of up to 9.5% copper present a very lucrative on-selling potential. The company believes it has only explored slightly more than half the potential strike range at Wyacca.
What Taruga Minerals management said
Taruga CEO Thomas Line spoke about the company's next steps.
This high-grade copper discovery at Wyacca is further validation of the significant potential of Taruga's South Australian copper projects. It is clear from the limited drilling results received to date that this unit hosts very high-grade copper mineralisation, up to 9.5% Cu, and that there is significant opportunity to identify further zones at these grades with further drilling… We have really only scratched the surface at Wyacca, and we are now planning follow-up RC drilling and geophysics to further define and extend the mineralised footprint.
Taruga Minerals share price snapshot
Immense gains in the Taruga share price today bring its monthly increase to 104%. It's now up 966% over the past 12 months.
