Caspin Resources Limited announced further drill results from the Company's second phase of reconnaissance aircore drilling from the Duchess Prospect within the wholly owned Mount Squires Project in the West Musgrave region of Western Australia. An additional 132 holes for 2,729m have been drilled at the Duchess Prospect in the second phase, supported by co-funding from the WA government Exploration Incentive Scheme (EIS). The Company recently completed a second phase of reconnaissance aircore drilling at the Duchess Prospect, building on initial work reported on 29 September 2022. The first phase identified two clearly defined mineralised trends at the Prospect, being gold-silver (Duchess West) and copper-molybdenum (Duchess East) trends. This first batch of results from the second phase of drilling has returned even more promising results from both trends. Several infill and extensional traverses of reconnaissance drilling have now been completed across the Duchess West trend with drill hole MSAC0121 returning a standout result of 1m @ 6.04g/t Au and 4g/t Ag associated with quartz veining encountered from 12m, in the last metre drilled in the hole. Therefore, this intersection could be part of a much thicker zone of gold mineralisation that is yet to be tested. The result has reinforced the Company's interpretation of a consistent NW-oriented structural trend defined by all three of the MSAC0121 intersection, the 2.46g/t Au, 49.7g/t Ag rock chip result 200m to the south and the Handpump Prospect with thick zones of gold mineralisation at surface, over 1,500m to the north. Much of this trend is obscured by shallow transported cover and is an obvious target for further drilling. Recognising that mineralisation is associated with structurally controlled quartz veining, the company has drilled several traverses of close spaced holes near the MSAC0121 intersection, over 400m of strike to attempt to delineate the main host quartz vein. Several holes along strike to the north have also been drilled, with results pending.
Whilst the Company's focus is on gold mineralisation, there appears to be a clear halo of elevated silver mineralisation (>1g/t Ag) associated with this trend. Significant silver results include 3m @ 11.7g/t Ag from surface in MSAC0119. Silver may provide a small economic by-product benefit to any potential gold discovery. This drilling program has tested a lithological contact between rhyolite and volcaniclastic rocks with an apparent copper and molybdenum association. During the second phase of drilling, the Company has extended the drilling traverses further to the east than the earlier program with significant success. Drill hole MSAC0130 returned a best result of 7m @ 902ppm Mo from surface to bottom of hole, including 1m @ 3,220ppm (0.32%) Mo & 1.17% Pb from 5m. This result is an order of magnitude greater than the earlier drill results (e.g., 21m @ 63ppm including 4m @ 233ppm Mo in MSAC0023) and suggests that grades may be increasing further to the north and east where mineralisation remains open, possibly related to more intense hydrothermal alteration of the rhyolite host rocks. It is worth noting that the Climax and Henderson mines in the United States (the two most important molybdenum mines in the world) are large-scale, open pit operations with resource grades in the order of 1,000
to 2,000ppm Mo. This provides encouragement that Duchess East may be a significant new molybdenum discovery if sufficient continuity and extensions of mineralisation can be found. The Company has already drilled a further eight holes around MSAC0130 on 50m spacings to assist understanding of mineralisation extent and controls. Further drilling on large step outs, and deeper testing under the near-surface mineralisation
discovered so far, with a larger capacity drill rig, is warranted. Separately, drilling has also returned further anomalous copper along the contact zone, such as 4m @ 862ppm from 26m in drill hole MSAC0100. This result is approximately 500m from MSAC0054 which returned 20m @ 1,013ppm Cu. There remains potential for a copper-molybdenum style of mineralisation to be discovered on this trend. The geological context of the polymetallic mineralisation that has been discovered at the Duchess Prospect is enigmatic and does not easily conform with well-known mineralisation styles. However, it is possible to draw some conclusions and potential analogies. The mineralisation is spatially associated with the Palgrave Caldera, an approximately 1.08 Ga major rhyolitic magmatic complex, that has been interpreted by the Geological Survey of WA as the remnants of a "super- volcano" similar to the modern Yellowstone caldera in Wyoming, USA. The observed molybdenum association is also supportive of a genetic link with the Palgrave Caldera, as molybdenum mineralisation is typically associated with rhyolite magmatism of this type. Therefore, it is considered most likely that are dealing with a magmatic-hydrothermal system. Both Yellowstone and the Palgrave Caldera are interpreted to be associated with the impact of a large-scale mantle hot spot into the crust, producing extensive melting and magmatism. The same mantle hot spot that generated the Palgrave Caldera is also considered to be the source of magmatism that has produced the major Ni-Cu-PGE sulphide deposits in the West Musgrave region. The initial impact of the Yellowstone hot spot, under what is now northern Nevada, 17 million years ago generated a bonanza-grade epithermal gold province, with important deposits such as Midas and Sleeper. This may be somewhat of an analogue for the Duchess geological setting. Another possible analogue environment is the 1.59 Ga Gawler Range Volcanics in South Australia. These are also interpreted to be the crustal melting products of a mantle hot spot. This event is most famously associated with major IOCG deposits such as Olympic Dam but elsewhere also hosts epithermal-style silver-rich, polymetallic mineralisation, such as at the Paris deposit. In summary, the company is currently interpreting the Duchess polymetallic mineralisation as being associated with an intracratonic, mantle-host spot driven, magmatic hydrothermal system. Systems of this type are rare, but as discussed above, potential analogues do exist.