Golden Deeps Limited has intersected copper grades of up to 31.7% Cu and silver values of up to 961 g/t beneath surface gossans at its Graceland Critical Metals Prospect in northern Namibia.
The high-grade results come from drilling and channel sampling at Graceland, located about 20 kilometres south of the historic Tsumeb mine within the prolific Otavi Mountain Land metallogenic belt.
Previous surface channel sampling across the Gossan 1 outcrop delivered spectacular copper, silver and zinc grades, including 3 metres at 11.2% copper, 294 g/t sil`ver and 8.7% zinc, with a 0.5-metre interval grading 31.7% copper and 961 g/t silver, alongside elevated germanium.
A second channel returned 2.5 metres at 11.3% copper, 237 g/t silver and 11% zinc, including 0.5 metres at 26.2% copper and 563 g/t silver with strong germanium values.
Golden Deeps said shallow diamond drilling beneath these channels has now intersected wide, strongly mineralised zones directly below the gossan, indicating that mineralisation continues at depth rather than being restricted to surface oxidation.
Two diamond holes drilled under Gossan 1 cut visually strong copper and zinc mineralisation across the full width of the steeply dipping zone.
One hole intersected an 11.5-metre downhole interval comprising copper oxide-rich material near the surface, followed by a broad footwall zone containing sphalerite and galena stringers.
In contrast, a second hole intersected 4.7 metres of copper and zinc oxide mineralisation in the hangingwall before encountering a cavity interpreted as possible historic workings.
The company cautioned that these intersections are based on visual estimates from geological logging and should not be treated as grades until laboratory assays are received.
Core from the latest drilling has been submitted for multi-element analysis, with results expected shortly.
Chief executive Jon Dugdale said the results confirm that the intense copper-silver mineralisation seen in surface sampling continues below the gossan and transitions into zinc- and lead-rich sulphides in the footwall, a geometry consistent with classic Tsumeb-style systems.
He said the presence of sphalerite and galena beneath the copper-rich oxide zones supports the company’s interpretation that Graceland may represent the upper expression of a larger primary sulphide body at depth.
Beyond drilling, Golden Deeps has completed an extensive induced polarisation and resistivity survey across a two-kilometre section of the Graceland corridor.
Preliminary interpretation and three-dimensional modelling have identified multiple chargeability anomalies east and down-plunge of Gossan 1 and south of Gossan 1 East, areas interpreted as priority sulphide targets.
A larger and stronger chargeability and low-resistivity anomaly has also been detected further east of Gossan 1 East, extending roughly 200 metres to the edge of the survey area and remaining completely open.
The anomaly has been traced to at least 200 metres below the surface and is described as blind, with no associated gossan expression.
Shallow diamond drilling is continuing at Gossan 1 East, where earlier channel sampling returned 3.5 metres at 12.6% copper and 79 g/t silver, including 1.0 metre at 20.1% copper and 176 g/t silver with strong antimony and germanium values.
Additional shallow tests are planned at Gossan 1 West, where rockchip sampling previously returned copper values up to 50.6%, and at Gossan 2 North, where rockchips graded up to 26.9% copper, 3,179 g/t silver and 24.4% lead.
Soil and rockchip sampling has also extended the Graceland mineralised corridor by 500 metres to the west, taking the system to more than 3 kilometres of strike, with recent results returning up to 2.32% copper and 223 g/t silver.
Golden Deeps said integrated modelling of geophysical, geochemical and drilling data is underway to define priority “Tsumeb-type” sulphide targets for deeper follow-up drilling, as the company seeks to determine whether Graceland mirrors the depth, continuity and metal endowment of the world-class Tsumeb system.
