Asian Battery Metals PLC has launched its drilling campaign at the 100%-owned Copper Ridge prospect of the Yambat Project in Mongolia’s Gobi-Altai region, yielding promising copper and gold results from its first scout hole.
Drill hole CRS01A, extending 200.5 meters, confirmed semi-continuous mineralization from the surface down to a vertical depth of 187 meters.
Notable copper equivalent (CuEq) intercepts include:
- 20 meters at 0.60% CuEq (0.21% copper, 0.43 g/t gold) from 7 meters, including 7 meters at 1% CuEq (0.32% copper, 0.76 g/t gold) from 10 meters;
- 33 meters at 0.34% CuEq (0.17% copper, 0.19 g/t gold) from 32 meters;
- 30.9 meters at 0.38% CuEq (0.24% copper, 0.16 g/t gold) from 76.3 meters;
- 33 meters at 0.41% CuEq (0.25% copper, 0.18 g/t gold) from 113.5 meters;
- 13.5 meters at 0.41% CuEq (0.29% copper, 0.13 g/t gold) from 178 meters.
“Very encouraging” results
Managing director Gan-Ochir Zunduisuren expressed enthusiasm over the initial findings: “The assay results are very encouraging for the first drill hole completed at Copper Ridge. They highlight the region’s potential for copper-related mineralization and indicate significant target size for future exploration.”
Future plans
The company plans to conduct further work to deepen its understanding of the mineral system at Copper Ridge and expand detailed ground geophysical surveys in the December quarter of 2024, which will inform the next stages of drilling program design.
Scout drilling has confirmed that the copper and gold mineralization extends to considerable depths and has validated the use of geophysical surveys—such as chargeability and magnetic values—as effective targeting tools.
Asian Battery Metals views these results as significant, supporting the potential for a large tonnage, sulphide-rich system with multiple mineralized zones at Copper Ridge. Plans are in place to enhance road access to prospective drill sites throughout 2024, with a full-scale drilling program targeting multiple geophysical anomalies set for 2025.
