Bass Metals (ASX: BSM) has a portfolio of high quality zinc, lead, copper and gold assets in the rich Mount Read Volcanic mineral belt in northwest Tasmania.
The company’s growth strategy centres on the development of a ‘pipeline’ of production, near-production and exploration assets in the belt.
Bass Metals discovery at McKay Prospect points to more resource potential near Fossey mine
Bass Metals (ASX: BSM) has made a high-grade discovery at the McKay Prospect that supports the view that the overall Fossey Trend has potential to host additional mineralisation near to the existing Fossey mine infrastructure.
The result from the first intersection validates the company’s new exploration model and comprises 7.0 metres at 22.3% zinc 9.9% lead, 3.4 g/t gold, 181g/t silver and 0.7% copper.
Results include an additional 4.1 metres of combined barite and base metal mineralisation. The entire 11.1 metre zone assayed 14.9 % zinc, 6.5 % lead, 2.6 g/t gold, 130 g/t silver and 0.7% copper.
Mike Rosenstreich, managing director, said “the very high grades are especially exciting and also consistent with some of our recent drill hits at Fossey East.
"This discovery intersection at the McKay prospect demonstrates the validity of the new models put forward by our exploration team and the credibility of the targets.
"This is not a geological horizon previously targeted in the Hellyer region, nor probably in the entire Mt Read sequence, so it has very exciting local and regional implications.”
The company is exploring for large scale, high grade polymetallic (copper-lead-zinc-silver-gold) volcanogenic massive sulphide (VMS) deposits in the Mt Read Volcanic belt, a highly mineralised VMS terrain in north west Tasmania.
On July 5, Rosenstreich told Proactive Investors that Fossey East could be the next source of ore as well as the start of a string of discoveries along this trend.
This intersection is similar to Fossey East both mineralogically and in its geological setting. The company said the "mineralisation appears from orientated core to be steep and striking grid north-south."
This drill hole targeted potential offsets of the Fossey deposit along the Jack Fault. The McKay prospect has potential for extensions both to the south and down dip.
The mineralisation occurs much deeper in the geological sequence than previously thought prospective, which highlights new untested opportunities for the discovery of additional Fossey or Fossey East scale zones of mineralisation along the Hellyer-Fossey trend.
The company's new exploration model can be applied throughout Bass's tenement holdings and opens up significant tracts of ground not previously considered prospective.
To date about 120,000 tonnes of ore has been mined representing 11% of the Fossey Mine Plan and therefore only still a small sample of the overall resource.
