'Encouraging' exploration results at Rio Tinto's copper gold discovery

Rio Tinto said on Thursday that a new set of results from the copper-gold discovery in the Paterson province, Western Australia, are "encouraging".

The FTSE 100-listed mining giant said that figures gathered from 11 diamond-drilled holes at the site continued to indicate relatively wide intersections of vein style copper mineralisation associated with gold and silver beneath relatively shallow cover, which ranges from 50 to 100 metres.

Highlights from the drill results included: 456 metres at 0.43% copper, 0.6 grams of gold per tonne and 2.56 grams of silver per tonne; 245 metres at 0.47% copper, 0.6 grams of gold per tonne and 2.56 grams of silver per tonne; and 185 metres at 0.51% copper, 0.37 grams of gold per tonne and three grams of silver per tonne.

A statement from Rio Tinto said: "While results continue to be encouraging, the exploration project is still at an early stage and drilling to date does not allow sufficient understanding of the mineralised body to assess the potential size or quality of the mineralisation nor to enable estimation of a Mineral Resource. The assessment and interpretation of existing data is ongoing and is being used to help guide drilling in 2019."

The next phase of reverse circulation and diamond drilling is now underway with eight diamond rigs, three RC rigs, and a waterbore rig to further define the mineralisation, with results set to be reported in the third quarter.

Rio Tinto's shares were down 0.20% at 4,512.00p at 0843 BST.