Arc Exploration (ASX: ARX) and joint venture partner Anglo American (LON: AAL) have started the drill spinning on the Trenggalek Project in East Java.
Anglo American is fully funding the program, which is testing the first of several potential porphyry copper-gold targets identified in the project area.
Outlining the potential of the area, the Trenggalek project lies in the prospective Southern Mountains Province of East Java, which contains the giant Tumpangpitu porphyry copper-gold deposit in the Tujuh Bukit district, discovered by Intrepid Mines (ASX: IAU).
The recently appointed managing director of Arc, Dr Jeffrey Malaihollo, commented: “We are very pleased to report that drilling has now started at Trenggalek. This is the first drilling program to test the porphyry copper-gold targets identified alongside our JV partner, Anglo American.
"Previous drilling at Trenggalek has identified several shallow epithermal gold-vein and breccia systems.
"This exciting new phase of exploration is testing for deeper porphyry copper-gold systems associated with geophysical anomalies detected beneath large near-surface alteration features."
Malaihollo has significant form building a multi-million gold ounce company as he was a founder of AIM-ASX listed GGG Resources Plc (LON:GGG), which has a resource of over three million ounces.
Drilling program
Drilling has commenced at the Jerambah prospect, which is one of several targets identified on the Exploration IUP, with further interpretative and field work also underway with the AIM of firming up a pipeline of other targets for drill testing.
Jerambah is located about 2 kilometres southwest of the Buluroto epithermal gold-breccia prospect on the southern side of the Trenggalek tenement.
Previous drilling at Buluroto returned narrow epithermal gold intercepts that included 2 metres at 8.7 g/t gold in TRDD032.
Copper sulphide mineralisation in silicified breccia was intersected in another hole, TRDD025, returning a broad gold-copper-molybdenum intercept of 24.5m at 0.51g/t gold, 0.21% copper and 16 ppm Mo from 138.5 metres depth - providing indications of the deeper porphyry potential at Trenggalek.
The subsequent discovery of a large high-sulphidation epithermal alteration system centred on quartz-feldspar porphyry intrusions at Sumber Bening Prospect, located on the western side the Trenggalek tenement, provided further evidence for porphyry potential on the Trenggalek tenement.
The expiry date on the Trenggalek Exploration IUP was amended by the Regent of Trenggalek from November 2013 to November 2016.
Exploration expenditure at Trenggalek for the June 2013 quarter totalled US$504,128 and this was wholly funded by Anglo American.
The Exploration IUP tenement covers around 300 square kilometres in the Southern Mountains of East Java.
Joint venture
Arc (95%) has a joint venture with PT. Sumber Mineral Nusantara, an Indonesian company which holds the Trenggalek Exploration IUP tenement.
In December 2012, Arc announced that Anglo American had elected to enter into an agreement with Arc and Sumber Mineral Nusantara to farm into the Trenggalek Project.
Exploration activities at Trenggalek are currently managed by Arc but fully funded by Anglo American.
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