King River Copper Starts Share Buy-Back, To Ratchet Up Exploration

King River Copper (ASX:KRC) is taking a road less travelled for small cap explorers, with a further on-market buy back of its own shares and kicking exploration up a gear in Western Australia, where previous work had unearthed very high grade copper/gold results.

Try rock samples that returned 27.25% copper, 25 ounces per tonne silver and 4.97 grams per tonne gold.

So it's no surprise that chairman Tony Barton is confident of exploration success that he has taken out stock overhangs with share buy backs that can inhibit growth of many an explorers' share price.

In theory, this should mean King Road is highly leveraged to any good news from upcoming exploration at its Speewah Dome project - without the overhang.

King Road will buy back up to 13,865,717 shares within the 12 month period representing 10% of the shares on issue. At any rate, they may serve to place a "floor" around the current price.

Barton has skin in the game in King River, exuding a confidence in the copper/gold potential at Speewah Dome and that exploration has barely touched the surface until drill bits begin to turn in earnest.

Assisting the cause, King Road received a Research & Development tax rebate of $1.46 million in June, which will be used to support ongoing exploration and general working capital throughout the remainder of 2013/2014.

Encouraging start

King River holds 785 square kilometres of mineral leases covering a unique geological feature in the Eastern Kimberley of Western Australia.

There is a large prize if King Road and Barton can thread the needle at Speewah. In 2010 / 2011, rock chip sampling programs over some previously unexplored portions of the Speewah Dome returned numerous high grade copper, gold and silver assays which included 27.25% copper, 25 ounces per tonne silver and 4.97 grams per tonne gold.

A comprehensive dataset over some of these locations comprising airborne magnetics, gravity, SAM and IP surveys, surface sampling (soils and rock chips) was undertaken.

The shift? An independent geological review of all previously known exploration data was undertaken - a new geological model for copper / gold exploration emerged.

Exploration to begin

Field sampling will kick off in late July targeting three high priority prospects within the Speewah Dome at Greys-Hayden-Eiffler (previous reported surface results of 27.5% copper and 4.97g/t gold), Todhunter (previous reported surface results of 7.3g/t gold and 3.0% copper), and the new untested King-Central prospect.

The initial focus of the field work will involve soil and rock sampling of these three prospects.

A 3D geophysical modelling has highlighted the potential for gold/copper mineralisation along north-south and cross linking faults at these prospects, some located under alluvial cover.

An initial RAB drilling program is planned for 2013 on the highest priority defined soil targets.

King River has built a comprehensive dataset at the Grey-Hayden and Eiffler prospects, comprising airborne magnetics, ground based gravity, SAM and IP surveys, surface sampling (soils and rock chips), and some drilling.

Reprocessing of the geophysical datasets and its integration with the geochemical and geological data has now been completed, and several high priority gold/copper targets have been identified associated with the intersection of inferred faults.

Todhunter prospect

Meanwhile at Todhunter, a high priority gold/copper target has been identified at Todhunter as a result of 2D / 3D modelling of airborne magnetics, topography, surface geochemical results and geology.

This work defined a 2.5 kilometre long fault with the potential for several gold and copper mineralised targets. Previously reported surface rock chip sampling at one locality along the Todhunter fault has identified a 90 metre long zone of gold and copper mineralisation assaying 4.9 - 7.3g/t gold with from 0.7 - 3.0% copper.

However, there is a sense that its potential is closer to being realised than ever before. Time and upcoming exploration will soon tell.

So the scene is now set, King River's Tony Barton has done as much as possible to clean out overhanging stock as well as provide a platform for the stock to move with any exploration success.

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