Mamba Uncovers New Copper Potential Across Meeka East’s 3km Corridor
Mamba Exploration has confirmed 165 historical copper intersections across a 3km corridor at its 70%-owned Meeka East project, supporting a new felsic volcanic exploration model. The company plans further mapping, geophysics and drilling, although the historical data is not sufficient to define a mineral resource.
- 165 copper intersections across 47 historical drill holes
- Copper Hills and Lady Alma linked by an underexplored 3km corridor
- Multiple intervals above 1% copper, including 26m at 0.96% Cu
- New felsic volcanic model extends the target to approximately 3.5km
- Diamond and RC drilling planned between the two prospects
Historical Drilling Reveals Continuous Copper Corridor
Mamba Exploration Limited (ASX:M24) has turned a fragmented historical record into a larger copper target, with a review confirming 165 copper intersections in 47 drill holes across 991 metres at the Copper Hills and Lady Alma prospects in Western Australia’s Murchison region.
The results span roughly 3km between the outermost mineralised holes, with copper intersected at both ends of an interpreted felsic volcanic corridor. Copper Hills contributed 92 intersections from 24 holes, while Lady Alma added 73 intersections from 23 holes. The ground between the prospects remains untested at depth, giving the historical database an obvious limitation and an equally obvious exploration question.
Thick Intervals Carry Copper at Both Prospects
Copper Hills hosts several of the more substantial intervals. They include 26 metres at 0.96% copper from 24 metres in CHRC14, including 8 metres at 1.71% copper, and 23.15 metres at 1.11% copper from 39.9 metres in CD7. Other reported results include 18.88 metres at 0.90% copper from 61.83 metres in CD6 and 10 metres at 1.27% copper from just 2 metres in CHRC12.
Lady Alma is not merely a distant geological footnote. Its results include 13.4 metres at 1.26% copper from 151.68 metres in CD5, 16.45 metres at 1.04% copper from 93.5 metres in CD3 and 22 metres at 0.52% copper from 6 metres in CHRC7, which also averaged 1.30 grams per tonne gold over the assayed portion. A selectively sampled 1996 RAB hole, YGHR1, returned two separate 2-metre intervals grading 4.10% and 3.50% copper, but Mamba cautioned that this result is not systematic.
Felsic Volcanic Model Expands the Search Area
Mamba’s central interpretation is geological rather than economic: the mineralised host may be a felsic volcanic sequence, not a differentiated intrusion as previous explorers had mapped it. The company says radiometric, magnetic and gravity data trace the felsic unit beyond the drilled areas and outline a folded, steeply dipping target zone about 3.5km long.
That interpretation changes the exploration map. Rather than treating Copper Hills as an isolated feature, Mamba is considering a broader folded basin with possible mineralised limbs linking Copper Hills and Lady Alma. The company’s Executive Director Matt Freedman said the next step was to test the ground between the prospects.
Follow-up Work Targets the Untested Ground
Mamba plans a 3D review of the copper and gold database, relogging of available diamond core, detailed geological mapping, rock-chip and soil sampling, and reinterpretation of magnetic, gravity and electromagnetic data. Diamond and reverse-circulation drilling are planned, including first-pass testing between Copper Hills and Lady Alma. The company has also submitted an Exploration Incentive Scheme application for six 200-metre diamond holes at Copper Hills.
The news is positive at the exploration-target stage, but it is not a resource announcement. The reported intervals are downhole lengths, with true widths still unknown. The drilling is reconnaissance in nature and the company states that its spacing is insufficient for mineral resource estimation. Some of the oldest assays also lack recorded sampling, recovery and quality-control information, while gold coverage is incomplete across several holes.
Bottom Line?
The next drilling campaign must establish true widths, continuity and grade consistency across the untested corridor before the 3.5km model can become a resource-scale proposition.
Questions in the middle?
- Will drilling between Copper Hills and Lady Alma confirm continuity across the currently untested ground?
- How will true widths and grade continuity compare with the reported downhole intervals?
- Will the revised felsic volcanic model withstand relogging, geophysics and new drilling?
