(MENAFN - ProactiveInvestors - Australia) Sipa Resources (ASX: SRI) has encountered 100 metre thick drill intersections of copper-bearing gossans at its Enigma Prospect at its Thaduna Copper Project in Western Australia.
The Enigma Prospect is located less than 50 kilometres from Sandfire Resources' (ASX: SFR) massive Degrussa Copper-Gold Mine.
On one drill line, two reverse circulation holes intersected up to 100 metres thickness of iron and silica-rich gossan representing oxidised semi-massive to massive sulphides " at least in part, copper-bearing.
Two more reverse circulation holes on another drill line intersected two iron-rich gossan zones, one about 100 metres thick and the other about 50 metres thick, again representing oxidised semi-massive to massive sulphides " also, at least in part, copper-bearing.
While ground conditions will not allow deeper reverse circulation testing of the gossans, a diamond drill is scheduled to begin diamond core tails later this week targeting the sulphide zone.
To date, 10 holes for 1,976 metres have been completed at the Enigma Prospect.
Earlier aircore drilling was designed to assess the possibility of defining one, or more, potentially economic resources within the very extensive Enigma Secondary Copper Blanket.
It was also aimed at discovering 'vectors' to the primary sulphide source of the secondary copper, which Sipa believes it is now discovering.
Having made what is considered to be a breakthrough, by discovering these vectors to the primary copper source, Sipa replaced the aircore rig with a reverse circulation rig and has since been successfully "chasing" several of these gossans deeper towards the sulphide zone.
The aircore drilling is also considered to have increased the likelihood of discovering potentially economic bodies of secondary mineralisation, though significantly more drilling is still required.
East African exploration
In other positive news for Sipa, the company has been granted six exploration licences covering 2,200 square kilometres in Uganda, representing new exploration frontier.
The granting of the tenements presents the company with a first mover opportunity in the country, as Uganda has not yet received the relatively intense exploration, and subsequent mining, attention that neighbouring Tanzania and the Democratic Republic of Congo have attracted.
Importantly, Uganda shares much of the same geological prospectivity as its neighbouring countries.
This exploration initiative stems from a carefully considered approach consistent with Sipa's 25-year long greenfields exploration efforts, which successfully outlined two new mineral provinces in Western Australia in the 1990s " the Panorama VHMS copper-zinc and the Ashburton gold provinces.
The new ground in north central Uganda, which is primarily prospective for very large base metal deposits, was selected after focused field reconnaissance and data compilation and interpretation.
The six licences cover around 125 kilometres of strike of rocks considered prospective for, primarily, very large base metal deposits.
Sipa is targeting the start of exploration in early 2013, having determined the most effective geochemical/geological approach to fast track potential discovery.
Sipa's Ugandan effort is being conducted through a joint venture, with Sipa owning 80% and the remaining 20% owned by Geocrust Pty Ltd.
The company remains well-funded to advance exploration across its project with around A6.5 million cash at bank at the end of September.
