Highlights

• Highly anomalous zinc and copper assays received from soil sampling program conducted at the Yidby east project.
• Soil sampling at Yidby East detected significant copper and zinc zones with assays showing up to 1,000 ppm nickel, 310 ppm copper, 100 ppm zinc, 100 ppm cobalt, and 452 ppm sulphur.
• A rock sample from a gossan revealed elevated levels of copper, nickel, zinc, and cobalt.
• The company plans to conduct follow-up soil and rock chip sampling to further investigate the open-ended anomalous zones and identify drill targets.

Surefire Resources NL (ASX:SRN) shares jumped 16.67% to AU$0.007 apiece on Thursday morning following the update concerning the promising outcomes achieved from the soil sampling program conducted at Yidby East Project, Western Australia. The company has discovered copper and zinc zones at its 100% owned Yidby Project through a detailed soil sampling program.

The programme was conducted in an area that had previously indicated anomalous copper concentrations and the project area is called Phat Boy. It is located within the project’s easternmost tenement.

Promising results from soil sampling program

The soil sampling, mapping and geological investigations commenced in July 2024 and 161 soil samples were collected at 100m intervals and sent to Nagrom Laboratory for analysis through fusion Xray Fluorescence (XRF).

Data source: Company update

Further, five rock samples were gathered and sent to the laboratory for fusion XRF analysis and one rock sample revealed elevated levels including 460 ppm copper, 270 ppm nickel, and 200 ppm zinc and 100 ppm cobalt.

The anomaly is contiguous across a width of 5km on adjacent sample lines and a banded iron formation (BIF) and a shear zone are also proximal to the anomalous assays.

Historic exploration

SRN conducted a review of past exploration and highlighted the presence of gossans in and around the extensive BIF that dominates the area. Rock chip samples indicated up to 2,000 ppm of nickel, while stream sediment sampling returned up to 101 ppm of gold.

Additionally, sulphides, including chalcopyrite and native copper, were discovered during drilling conducted by Prosperity Resources Ltd in 2008, as part of their investigation into the BIF's iron grade and potential. Pancontinental Mining also reported a maximum gold concentration of 101 ppm from stream samples originating in the BIF within the area.

Geological setting of Phat Boy

Phat Boy is located between Golden Grove and Mount Gibson, two major VMS (Volcanogenic Massive Sulphide) deposits. The Golden Grove Volcanogenic Hosted Massive Sulphide (VHMS) deposit is situated near the Yidby East in the Warrieddar fold belt. The Yidby East area mirrors the structural and geological setting of the Warrieddar fold belt and is also of the same age.

Further plans

Additional work is needed to assess the potential for VHMS-style mineralisation. The company plans to conduct follow-up soil and rock chip sampling to delineate the open-ended anomalous zones, with the goal of identifying prospective drill targets.