CRA excited over Wafi copper find

Australian mining giant cra Ltd appears to have found another significant copper deposit in Papua New Guinea.

CRA, whose subsidiary Bougainville

Copper Ltd lost control of the vast Panguna copper mine, has announced an exciting discovery on its Wafi prospect, about 65km from Lae.

Three drill holes have intersected unusually large widths and high grades of porphyry copper. In the next few months surface work will try to delineate the extent of the deposit, and preliminary metallurgy testing on the ore has begun.

The announcement came just a month after CRA bought back the 45 per cent interest in Wafi it had previously sold to Elders Resources Ltd.

Mineralisation has been found in huge columns in the three drill holes with assays still to come in from a fourth this latter one is suspected to be separ ated by a fault from the others and lie outside the main ore zone. The assays from the first three holes included impressive grades: one was 76 metres averaging 2.28 per cent copper. The indications so far suggest an ore body 400 metres by 500 metres going to a depth of 400 metres. □