By Melissa Blewitt

Kincora Copper Limited is stepping up exploration at its Trundle project, targeting multiple prospective copper-gold systems across a 19-square-kilometre area in the Central West.
The company plans to undertake very shallow air-core drilling across the northern, southern and Dunns sections of the project as it investigates areas of mineralisation and geological potential that remain open for further exploration.
Trundle is located within the interpreted western rift of the Northparkes Igneous Complex, an area with a history of significant copper-gold exploration and mining.
Previous drilling, including work undertaken by major mining companies, has identified large mineralised footprints at or near the surface in the northern and southern portions of the Trundle licence.
Kincora’s latest internal and independent technical reviews have identified multiple prospective and open mineralised intrusion centres across the project.
The company is now seeking to test the relationship between geological structures within these prospective zones, particularly areas characterised by strong geophysical gradients.
The shallow drilling program is designed to rapidly test these targets and build a clearer understanding of the geology before more detailed and potentially deeper exploration is undertaken.
Kincora said the approach was intended to replicate the success of similar shallow drilling programs at the nearby Northparkes mine and elsewhere within the same interpreted caldera.
Those programs have contributed to the discovery of multiple porphyry copper-gold deposits, including the E44 deposit, which is currently the focus of a multi-rig drilling program and is being assessed as a potential first satellite deposit to the existing Northparkes mill.
The Trundle exploration forms part of Kincora’s broader NSW program, with the company planning more than 25,000 metres of air-core drilling across four projects during the upcoming spring and summer field season.
Kincora said air-core drilling provided a fast and cost-effective method of testing areas beneath shallow cover by collecting basement samples and identifying mineralisation, alteration, rock types and depth.
The results will help determine which of the Trundle targets warrant more detailed exploration and larger-scale drilling.
Kincora President and CEO Sam Spring said the company’s exploration programs were designed to quickly test geological concepts and identify opportunities with potential to support larger exploration campaigns.
The company is also progressing discussions with potential asset-level partners as it continues to assess opportunities across its NSW portfolio.