Fresh hits point to a growing Snow Queen copper system for Austral
By Industry Queensland
Drilling at Austral Resources Australia’s (ASX:AR1) Snow Queen prospect has pointed to a growing copper-gold system in the Mount Isa-Cloncurry district.
Results from the company’s Cameron River Project identified a possible second parallel lode about 300 metres south of the Snow Queen prospect.
Drillhole 26SQRC006 returned 15 metres at 1.20% copper and 0.24 g/t gold, including 5 metres at 3.04% copper and 0.60 g/t gold.
Related: Austral backs Mt Kelly with new drum for long-life copper
The high-grade hit came from the Santa Maria Trend, adding to Austral’s recent drilling success at Snow Queen.
Main image: Rocklands run-of-mine
The company said the results expanded the scale of the copper-gold system and supported its strategy of building regional feed for the Rocklands Processing Facility.
Snow Queen lies about 60 kilometres from Rocklands, within the Cameron River Project in North-West Queensland.
Austral chairman David Newling said the result demonstrated the company’s ability to develop copper targets.
“This result is a clear demonstration of Austral’s ability to generate and drill high-quality copper targets within our tenure.
“Snow Queen sits within a broader portfolio of satellite opportunities that underpin our strategy of building regional scale around the Rocklands Processing Facility.
“We see significant value in systematically testing these targets, with the aim of identifying additional sources of copper mineralisation that could complement our existing operations.
“Follow-up drilling is underway, and we look forward to updating shareholders as results are received.”
Austral mobilised a second drill rig in late June to accelerate its 2026 regional exploration campaign across the project.
The company planned to systematically drill-test more than 35 historical copper workings over the next 12 to 18 months.
It said the program aimed to identify additional copper sources that could complement its existing operations, with follow-up drilling underway.
Disclaimer: the author is an Austral Resources shareholder
