NRL reports copper and gold finds at eight Chagai sites
The privately owned exploration company says nearly 25,000 metres of drilling returned encouraging grades and it is moving to a first resource estimate.
National Resources Limited, a privately owned Pakistani mineral exploration company, said on Friday that it had identified copper and gold mineralisation at eight sites in Balochistan's Chagai district after nearly 25,000 metres of drilling, and that it is now working towards its first estimate of the area's mineral resources.
Dawn and Business Recorder both carried the announcement. Business Recorder named the company's chairman as Muhammad Ali Tabba and described NRL as 100 per cent Pakistani and privately owned. Dawn reported that the drilling had produced encouraging results.
The two outlets gave the same headline drilling result. One hole returned 295 metres of continuous mineralisation grading 0.43 per cent copper and 0.13 grams of gold per tonne. Within that interval, a 132-metre section graded 0.83 per cent copper.
Business Recorder reported that the company described the finds as at least eight porphyry discoveries.
NRL said it is advancing towards a first mineral resource estimate for the area. Neither report carried a figure for the size of the deposit in tonnes, a date for that estimate, or an account of how much has been spent on the drilling programme.
Dawn filed its report from Islamabad.
Chagai district already hosts the Reko Diq copper and gold project. ProPakistani placed the eight discoveries near Reko Diq and headlined its report "Pakistan's Next Gold and Copper Treasure Found Near Reko Diq".
The three reports did not say what copper and gold prices the grading figures were calculated against, or how the eight sites sit in relation to each other within the district.
How the reports differ
Dawn led with the drilling figures and the move towards a first resource estimate, and described the results as encouraging. Business Recorder named chairman Muhammad Ali Tabba in its headline, called NRL a 100 per cent Pakistani privately owned company, and was alone in reporting that the finds cover at least eight porphyry discoveries. ProPakistani framed the announcement by location, placing the eight discoveries near Reko Diq and describing them as Pakistan's next gold and copper find.
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