South Pacific Metals Corp. has reported exciting new assay results from its Ontenu NE prospect in Papua New Guinea, with rock chip samples returning high grades of gold, copper and silver.
The discovery, announced on 17 September, comes from the company’s Osena Project, located in the highly prospective Kainantu District. This region is already home to K92 Mining’s world-class Kainantu Gold-Copper Mine.
According to South Pacific Metals, field teams recently uncovered several new mineralised structures at Ontenu NE. Rock chip samples collected from outcrops returned values of up to 3.95 grams per tonne (g/t) of gold, 1.2 percent copper, and 603 parts per million (ppm) silver.
Other standout results included 7.69 g/t gold in a narrow vein with visible gold and 9.34 g/t gold with 272 g/t silver from a creek boulder.
“Within a short time, we have found several new mineralised structures which we suspect could represent the upper levels of epithermal gold-copper veins,” said company CEO Timo Jauristo.
“To encounter high gold, copper and silver in some of these structures is encouraging. These results, with continuing mapping and sampling, will guide our drill planning. We hope to start drilling within the next month — the first drill holes in the Ontenu NE area,” Jauristo added.
The Ontenu NE target shows geological features similar to those at the nearby K92 Mine, with multiple gold-arsenic and copper soil anomalies stretching for more than a kilometre. Exploration is still at an early stage, with further mapping, trenching, and sampling underway before drilling begins.
The Osena Project, which covers 738 square kilometres of ground, is one of South Pacific Metals’ flagship ventures. Ontenu is considered particularly promising, with a cluster of five copper-gold porphyry and epithermal vein systems spanning an area 5 km by 3 km.
For Papua New Guinea, the results highlight the country’s growing profile as a destination for world-class mineral discoveries. For South Pacific Metals, the findings mark an important step toward unlocking the potential of the Osena Project.
