Key Highlights

  • Tillex mineralisation now extends about 245 metres along strike, based on the Phase 2 diamond drilling.
  • Standout hole TX26-014 returned 27.7 metres at 1.51 per cent copper and 5.69 grams per tonne silver.
  • The zone is roughly 70 metres wide and remains open in all directions based on the holes drilled so far.
  • The project is at an early exploration stage, with no mineral resource defined yet.

Aruma Resources (ASX:AAJ) has reported further diamond drilling results from its Tillex copper-silver project near Timmins in Ontario, Canada, saying the mineralised footprint now extends about 245 metres along strike. The company said the zone is roughly 70 metres wide, more than 20 metres in vertical extent and open in all directions, based on the holes drilled so far.

The standout hole, TX26-014, returned 27.7 metres at 1.51 per cent copper and 5.69 grams per tonne silver from 49.3 metres. The same hole intersected a second zone of 11.25 metres at 1.43 per cent copper and 13.69 g/t silver from 94.75 metres. Hole TX26-015 returned 6.54 metres at 1.21 per cent copper and 5.17 g/t silver from 58.66 metres. Intervals were not reported as true widths and should be treated as downhole lengths.

Taken together, the two zones in TX26-014 amount to almost 39 metres of reported mineralisation in a single hole, with the deeper zone carrying more than twice the silver grade of the upper one. Silver is a secondary metal at Tillex, but in VMS systems by-product credits can make a meaningful difference to Economics if a deposit is eventually defined.

Shallow, VMS-style mineralisation

The company describes the mineralisation as volcanogenic massive sulphide style, and it begins beneath around 40 metres of overburden. VMS deposits form on or near the ancient seafloor and commonly occur in clusters, which is one reason explorers in established volcanic belts such as the Timmins region tend to look for additional lenses near an initial discovery. Managing director Grant Ferguson described the latest numbers as "exceptional broad, high-grade results".

Shallow depth can be significant for a copper project because it may allow cheaper drilling and, if a deposit is eventually defined, could support open-pit Mining scenarios. However, the overburden cover means the mineralisation does not crop out, so drilling remains the main tool for tracing its extent.

What the results do and do not show

The intercepts confirm that copper and silver mineralisation continues across a larger area than earlier drilling had shown, but they are exploration results only. There is no mineral resource at Tillex, and the dimensions quoted by the company are based on a limited number of holes. The continuity of grade between holes, the geometry of the lenses and their true thickness have yet to be established.

Drilling to continue into January

Aruma said the Phase 2 programme is about 70 per cent complete. Holes TX26-016 to TX26-023 have been drilled and are awaiting assays; they test a further 115 metres of strike to the south-west. If mineralisation is confirmed in those holes, the footprint could extend beyond the current 245 metres, although that cannot be assumed until results are received.

The company said Phase 2 drilling will continue into early January 2027 and will also test the north-eastern extension of the zone within claim PAT4887. Results from the outstanding holes, together with any step-out drilling in the north-east, are the next catalysts the company has flagged.

For now, Tillex sits at the early discovery-definition stage. The coming assays should help show whether the shallow zone is a single lens of limited size or part of a larger VMS system with the scale needed to justify resource drilling, and Aruma's subsequent updates will be watched on that basis closely.