East Star Resources Plc (LSE:EST), the Kazakhstan-focused mineral explorer announced that as a result of a detailed literature review following its successful 2022 helicopter electromagnetic (“HEM”) survey, it has identified a substantial copper-lead-zinc-deposit (“Cu-Pb-Zn”) located within its 100% owned ‘RA3’ licence, centrally located in the world-class Rudny Altai VMS belt. The newly identified polymetallic volcanic and sediment hosted exhalative sulphide (“VSHMS“) deposit (the “Verkhuba Deposit”) is within the greater Verkhuba Ore District which includes the (previously announced) four Priority 1 HEM anomalies, and has the potential to become a deposit of regional significance.
Alex Walker, East Star CEO, commented:
“The Verkhuba Deposit is a game changer for East Star. It leapfrogs the Company from being a greenfield explorer to a brownfield resource development company. Part drilled and part buried beneath thin cover, the Cu-Pb-Zn deposit has huge potential upside from ore zone extensions within the Verkhuba Ore District as well as high-priority EM targets.
The Verkhuba Ore District contains volcanogenic-hosted massive sulphide targets adjacent to sediment-hosted exhalative sulphide mineralisation, implying a long-lived hydrothermal system generating multiple high-grade deposits within the same area.
Rudny Altai is a significant copper producing region with excess processing capacity from both Glencore and KAZ Minerals. The identification of the Verkhuba Deposit is yet another validation our exploration thesis and we are excited to commence resource delineation drilling with additional updates to be delivered as digitisation of historic drilling continues and the 2023 exploration programme commences.”
