South Pacific Metals Corp. has intersected mineralised structures in all five step-out drill holes at the Megabe target within its 100%-owned Osena Project in Papua New Guinea, extending the confirmed mineralised strike length to more than 300 metres.

The step-out program traced continuous mineralised structures from hole ONED26-014 in the northwest to ONED26-012 in the southeast. The structures remain open along strike in both directions and at depth. Hole ONED26-011, drilled up-dip of previous discovery hole ONED26-009, intersected a potential fourth mineralised zone returning 5.1 metres at 1.79 g/t gold equivalent from 313.3 metres, including 3 metres at 2.66 g/t gold equivalent. Meanwhile, hole ONED26-010 tested a separate set of structures southwest of Megabe and intersected 18 metres at 0.25 g/t gold equivalent, confirming that mineralised structures extend beyond the main Megabe corridor.

Data from the drilling indicate the rigs have clipped the upper margins of an intermediate-sulphidation epithermal vein system, with the step-out holes cutting the structures within the leached horizon down to at least 100 metres below surface, sitting above the targeted high-grade zone. The Osena Project is situated within the Kainantu Transfer Zone, a major regional structural corridor that also hosts K92 Mining's producing Kainantu gold-copper mine.

“These four holes confirm the Megabe structures hold together along strike, are mineralised, and indicate the upper margins of an epithermal system. We think the high-grade zones in hole ONED26-009 have only clipped the upper edges of the main system, and we will drill a few deeper holes below ONED26-009 to test for continuity of high grade in that direction.”

“Our immediate focus is the deeper high-grade at Megabe, targeting veins showing the same character as Kora and Judd next door at K92 — and will start drilling the first of these holes shortly.”

— Timo Jauristo, CEO

Following the completion of the current batch of assays, exploration drilling has continued without pause. Two rigs recently advanced to Ontenu Central to test newly mapped northwest-southeast mineralised trends while core processing and targeting proceed. At the Osena Project's Megabe target, South Pacific Metals plans to drill two holes to test for high-grade targets below and down-plunge to the southeast of hole ONED26-009.

Read the full announcement: South Pacific Metals Extends the Mineralized Structures at Megabe to More than 300 Metres of Confirmed Strike Length; Structures Open Along Strike and at Depth