Copper and molybdenum distribution at Shap, Cumbria

Examination of rock outcrops in and around the Shap Granite and percussion drilling behind the Pink Granite Quarry have confirmed that both copper and molybdenum are present over a wide area, though in amounts which everywhere are sub-economic. Surprisingly, chemical analytical results show a lack of strong correlation between these two metals. Induced polarisation surveys did not provide any evidence of anomalously high concentrations of sulphide mineralisation, although a VLF-EM anomaly indicates a possible northward extension of a fracture zone which is mineralised where exposed in the quarry face. A model suggesting a more deeply buried porphyry-type deposit is not wholly disproved but the evidence obtained from drillholes and geophysical surveys is far from encouraging.