Thick, higher-grade sedimentary-style copper confirmed in Yerrida Basin deposit.

BOA Resources has confirmed the presence of high-grade copper at its Ricci Lee discovery in Western Australia’s Yerrida Basin, with the final assays from a maiden 46-hole RC drilling program some of the best yet.

MiningNews.net reports Ricci Lee was the focus of BOA’s drilling at the Ned’s Creek project, with the final results delivering 23m at 2.65% copper from 173m, including 6m at 6.91%, below 7m at 2.33% from 150m. The results reportedly confirm the main and hanging wall lodes as viable targets.

BOA managing director Graeme Purcell said the results included the highest grade-thickness accumulation of copper reported from any hole, with individual 1m assays returning up to 18.68% copper and 49.95 grams per tonne silver.

Another hole encountered 7m at 3.9% from 244m, including 4m at 6.4% within an upper splay of the main lode, before passing into an 8m at 2.33% zone from 254m, including 7m at 2.57% within the main lode.

The bifurcation of the lode was recognised on multiple sections, providing additional opportunities for copper mineralisation. The main lode remains open at depth.

Purcell said the parallel hanging wall lode was a “pleasant surprise” when it emerged during the latest drilling.

It delivered assays such as 14m at 2.02% from 129m, including 6m at 3.59%.

Purcell said the early interpretation suggested the hanging wall was becoming more strongly mineralised towards the north and at depth.

He added that the final assays helped shed new light on what could become a substantial copper system.

“Importantly, we are no longer looking at isolated high-grade intersections,” Purcell said.

“The completed program has demonstrated continuity of copper mineralisation and improved our understanding of the geological controls, giving us greater confidence in targeting the next phase of drilling.”

The campaign further reinforced the geological similarities to the nearby 103,000t at 2.5% Thaduna copper deposit.

Ricci Lee reportedly has a shallow plunge, with a coherent lode structure, just like Thaduna.

A maiden resource could be delivered in December.

Follow-up work scheduled

BOA has moved to capitalise on its initial success by booking a diamond rig that is expected to spin up later this month, with additional drilling planned at the emerging Rooneys regional prospect.

Rooneys returned previous results including 16m at 2.47% copper from limited aircore drilling and has been defined over 500m of strike.

Aircore assays for the Blockley, Mueller, Limestone Bore and Ward regional prospects are still pending and are likely to inform 2027 RC drilling to test what Purcell hopes is a new copper camp at Neds Creek.

Big spend planned

BOA is fresh off a capital raising, having secured $9.2 million at 10.5c last month.

Purcell said the aim was to spend 75% of the funds “on drilling in the ground”, primarily at Ricci Lee and in BOA’s maiden drilling at Thaduna, where it can see opportunities for resource growth given the limited drilling beyond the resource along-strike or below 600m.

One of the deepest holes at Thaduna returned 10.8m at 8.2% copper.

Neds Creek sits in the Yerrida Basin, which is reportedly a geological match for the adjacent Bryah Basin.

That said, the emerging potential at Neds Creek is a sedimentary style of deposit within structurally controlled epigenetic targets, unlike the traditional Bryah Basin-style VMS deposits such as Sandfire Resource’s now-depleted DeGrussa and Monty deposits.

Purcell said the maiden program had been designed to be more systematic than historical drilling, primarily to help understand the mineralisation, structuring and stratigraphic orientation.

With that work done, it could be more targeted for phase two.

New landlord

BOA only recently moved to 100% of Ned’s Creek and the associated Thaduna and 18,000t Green Dragon mining leases.

The deal to consolidate the 1378sq.km project in the Murchison copper belt saw Sandfire become a 6.2% shareholder in BOA.

Purcell said the wider area was underexplored, and other Thaduna-style prospects would probably emerge.

There’s also the Enigma prospect, which is living up to its name.

“We don’t understand it well at this stage,” Purcell said.

While the known resources are within the Thaduna formation, Enigma’s copper shows are in the older Johnson Cairn Formation. The 4km by 1km shallow copper system has been defined by assays such as 63m at 1.1% copper from 90m.

BOA shares were up 5% today despite a weaker copper price overnight. The explorer was capitalised at $53 million based on a share price 11c.

BOA has traded between 2.5c and 20c over the past year.