Encounter Resources (ASX:ENR) is preparing to ramp up drilling at the Elsa prospect in Western Australia after recent drilling defined a priority copper-gold zone.

Assays from broad-spaced, EIS co-funded RC drilling have intersected shallow copper-gold mineralisation in numerous adjacent holes at Elsa and defined a priority copper-gold zone on the northern margin of an interpreted Havieron-style breccia complex.

Following completion of the current drilling program at Parbo, Encounter said exploration at Elsa will focus on follow-up RC drilling across a newly defined 1.2km-long copper-gold target, after the required heritage survey is completed. The next phase is expected to help refine the extent of the anomaly and build on the current broad-spaced drilling, which has so far identified mineralisation close to surface rather than fully testing the system.

Deeper RC and diamond drilling will also be used to test beneath the shallow copper-gold mineralisation and the extensive preferential weathering zone. Encounter is also planning drilling to define the southern and western margins of the interpreted breccia complex, which would help constrain where the broader mineralised system begins and ends.

“Prior drilling at Elsa intersected an extensive breccia and alteration system containing zones of copper-gold anomalism,” EC Will Robinson said.

“One of the key objectives of this RC program was to better understand where the higher concentrations of copper and gold occur within that broader system.”

Mr Robinson said the recently completed program has successfully identified a zone of focus, intersecting significant copper-gold mineralisation that is coincident with extensive preferential weathering extending more than 200m from surface, while fresh rock has still not been reached.

“That suggests the potential for a more sulphide-rich system at depth, making this a priority target for the next phase of drilling,” he said.

Highlights from the latest batch of assay results from Elsa included drillhole ETG0262, which intersected 16m at 0.3% copper at the northern end of the eastern drill line.

However, an additional drill hole completed 200m north of ETG262 did not intersect additional copper mineralisation, and further work is planned to understand the context and controls of the copper intersected in ETG262.

Elsa is located at the south-east end of the Lamil dome, where an interpreted intrusive-related system anomalous in copper-gold-arsenic-molybdenum-bismuth is centred around a series of magnetic anomalies. That setting gives the upcoming drilling broader significance, as the current results are helping define how mineralisation is distributed within the larger geological system rather than only at isolated drill intersections.

ENR was up 4.35% to 0.20c. Market capitalisation was $128.6 million.

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