Phase 2 Exploration Campaign Identifies Widespread Copper-Gold Mineralization on EL02 License on Bougainville Island, PNG
August 01 2024 - 3:12AM
Island Passage Development Canada Limited (IPDC or the “Company”)
announces the completion of Phase Two of its mineral exploration
program on the EL02 exploration license on Bougainville. Operations
are conducted through its PNG subsidiary, Island Passage
Development Limited (IPD), in partnership with Isina Resource
Holdings Limited (IRHL), a customary landowner company. The team is
jointly exploring the 261 km2 mineral property located in the Crown
Prince Range of south-Central Bougainville, approximately nine
kilometres along strike to the southeast from the historic Panguna
copper gold mine (Figure 1).
The first two phases of exploration took place over a five-month
period of intensive field work ending in mid July. Highlights of
the campaign to date are as follows:
- Relaunching of modern copper-gold
exploration on Bougainville
- Collected 99 stream sediment and
panned concentrate samples, 69 rock chip samples and 188
man-powered auger soil samples along 9.6 km (6 miles) of
ridgelines
- Examined 14 small-scale artisan
mining sites (active and dormant)
- Identified six areas of interest
covering over 40 sq. km.
- Anomalies ranging from 2 to 14 sq.
km., supported by elevated gold, copper, molybdenum, silver, and
other pathfinder elements in panned concentrate and stream sediment
samples
- 15 of the 69 rock samples collected
in the first phase contain copper over 0.3%, gold over 0.3 g/t or
molybdenum values over 30 ppm, including up to 13.75% copper, 0.13%
molybdenum, and 49 g/t gold.
- Employment of more than 35 people to
conduct and support the ongoing program
- Training of multiple crews in
practical sampling and prospecting techniques
- Welcomed in 7 different villages,
which provided support and logistics for the team
Approximately 75% of the license has been sampled by stream
sediment sampling, including all of the highest priority target
areas. The IPDC technical team selected six areas of interest for
follow-up work that is likely to include in-fill sediment sampling,
rock and soil sampling, mapping, and possibly trenching. Target
areas are identified based on multi-element stream sediment
anomalies, most often characterized by overlapping or adjacent gold
(>350 ppb), copper (>110 ppm), and molybdenum (>4 ppm)
anomalies.
As previously reported, 14 small-scale mining sites and
prospects have been visited where local people have panned gold and
conducted limited excavation into the hillsides. Company geologists
identified and sampled multiple quartz veins, breccia occurrences,
and areas reflecting hydrothermal alteration of varying intensity.
Numerous new areas of interest have also surfaced as a result of
the systematic sampling program, including outcropping copper and
molybdenum mineralization.
Donald McInnes, Co-Founder and CEO of IPDC, commented on the
progress made to date, “IPDC, through its pioneering work with the
customary landowners of Bougainville, has emerged as the only
company carrying out a modern sustained exploration program on the
legendary Island since a Moratorium on exploration was decreed by
Papua New Guinea in 1974 – 50 years ago. After years of laying the
groundwork, and the practical involvement and enthusiasm of the
landowners in our day-to-day operations, we expect a long-term
partnership to explore and develop the mineral resources we
anticipate on their lands. We are grateful to all of our customary
landowner partners, the Autonomous Bougainville Government and the
communities that have hosted our teams for the support they have
shown us.”
The first indications from these property-wide databases of rock
and sediment geochemistry are very encouraging. In addition to
exciting individual gold, copper, and molybdenum occurrences that
our teams have visited, the big picture geochemistry is suggestive
of large-scale zonation in pathfinder elements such as tellurium,
lead, zinc, and manganese. There are certainly highly mineralized
veins that may be epithermal in nature, but it also appears that
the geochemistry is broadly supportive of a porphyry copper model.
Some of the targets appear to be enriched in gold, copper, and
molybdenum, suggestive of the central or hotter part of a system.
While elements such as lead, zinc, and manganese may occur in more
distal prospects, as if they were pushed outward from the core of
the system.
Historical data is also benefitting the search at EL02. The
vintage airborne magnetics data is proving to be particularly
useful. Some of the new geochemical anomalies are tracking along
the edges of magnetic highs, and two significant new geochemical
targets have drawn the team’s attention to anomalous magnetic
lows.
There is another batch of samples at the lab now, and planning
is underway for Phase 3. When the teams return to the field in
mid-August, their focus will be follow-up work. First, the Company
will begin in-fill sampling within some of the larger gold and
copper anomalies. Secondly, there are strong rock chip results that
need more detailed prospecting, mapping, and sampling. The
Company’s goal is to define targets that could be drill tested in
the fourth quarter.
About Isina Resource Holdings Ltd. IRHL was
founded in 2009 with the directors drawn from the chiefs of the
nine major clans and their subclans in south Central Bougainville.
As the custodians of their customary clan-owned land, the forty
-three directors represent the customary landowner families. In an
exercise of sovereignty over their mineral rights, they applied for
and were granted EL02 over their lands. The licence boundary is
situated 9 km SE of the Panguna open pit along the Crown Prince
Range, and extends a further 26 km to the SE. The tenement contains
wholly within it the area known as P.A.7B which was one of the
seven BCL (Rio Tinto) exploration tenements that it held
surrounding Panguna.
About Island Passage Development Canada Ltd. A
private Canadian company purpose built in 2022 to facilitate the
finance, technical, commercial, and business development expertise
that will be necessary to drive exploration and development on
Bougainville. The Company is founded on the principle of
responsible resource development in partnership with indigenous and
customary landowners, and its leadership has a long track record of
success on multiple such ventures.
About Island Passage Development Ltd. The PNG
company is 100% owned by IPDC to bring exploration finance and
technical capacity from Canada to Bougainville to carry out
exploration on EL02.
For further information please go to islandpassage.ca
Or email Donald McInnes, CEO at donald@islandpassage.ca
Or follow IPDC on Facebook at (3) Island Passage Development |
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Figure 1 - Map of Central Bougainville Showing
Historic Panguna Licenses and EL02
An image accompanying this announcement is
available
at https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/4ab31d0f-361a-4509-a6f8-f1b91e1b8406