South Pacific Metals Corp. has reported high-grade gold-copper drill results from its 100 percent-owned Ontenu Project in Papua New Guinea, strengthening the company's view that the prospect hosts an extensive epithermal gold-copper system similar to the nearby Kainantu mine.
The latest results from drill hole ONED26-009 intersected three mineralised zones at the recently identified Megabe structure, including 5 metres grading 12.84 grams of gold equivalent per tonne, including 2 metres at 28.06g/t gold equivalent, and 12.2 metres grading 6.24g/t gold equivalent, including 2 metres at 16.65g/t gold equivalent.
The Ontenu Project is located adjacent to K92 Mining's Kainantu gold-copper operation in Eastern Highlands Province.
Exploration Manager Octavio Garcia said the results indicate that the Megabe structure forms part of a much larger mineralised system.
"The results from hole ONED26-009 are highly encouraging because they demonstrate that the Megabe structure is not an isolated occurrence, but part of a broader mineralised system with clear continuity and scale potential," Garcia said.
The company said the high-grade intersections in the first two mineralised zones appear to extend the hanging-wall mineralisation previously encountered in drill hole ONED26-007, providing early evidence of structural and grade continuity along the Megabe vein system.
The third mineralised zone confirmed significant width and high-grade mineralisation, supporting the company's exploration model that higher-grade zones may extend to the south-east and at greater depth.
Chief Executive Officer Timo Jauristo said the results validate the company's exploration strategy at Ontenu.
"Our goal is to demonstrate that Ontenu has the potential to host high-grade gold-copper veins similar to those being mined by K92 at their nearby world-class mining operation," Jauristo said.
He said drilling has now identified at least eight mineralised structures across a five-kilometre trend at Ontenu, although only limited portions of three structures have been tested, leaving significant exploration potential across the project.
South Pacific Metals has completed drill holes ONED26-010 and ONED26-011 and is preparing samples for laboratory analysis, while holes ONED26-012 and ONED26-013 are currently being drilled.
The company plans to continue drilling along the Megabe structure before expanding exploration to other undrilled targets within the broader Ontenu project area, including Ontenu Central.
