PACE Theme 2 (drilling partnerships with PIRSA and industry): Year 5 partnership DPY5-19. White Hill igneous complex Proterozoic magmatic PGE-Ni-Cu mineral prospects. Project final report.
Created: 12 Nov 2024 Revised: 12 Nov 2024

Following a review of historic exploration data for the Mount Woods Inlier, OZ Minerals decided that the White Hill igneous complex, located 6 km north-west of the Prominent Hill mining lease, is comprised of mafic and ultramafic cumulate rocks...

Following a review of historic exploration data for the Mount Woods Inlier, OZ Minerals decided that the White Hill igneous complex, located 6 km north-west of the Prominent Hill mining lease, is comprised of mafic and ultramafic cumulate rocks having layered textures, which possibly might host economic platinoid metal, nickel-copper or iron-titanium-vanadium magmatic type mineralisation. A submission for PACE Initiative Year 5 drilling project funding was made and approved, to test a gravity anomaly within the igneous complex that could help resolve this concept. During June 2008 two rotary mud precollared diamond holes were drilled at 60 degrees declination on the northern side of the target anomaly, for a total penetration of 992.5 m including 111.6 m of HQ and 746.4 m of NQ2 coring. Although some layered mafic rocks were encountered, no anomalous assay results were returned from the drill core samples. The mafic rocks are interpreted to be of Hiltaba Suite age, as indicated by their undeformed and unmetamorphosed nature. They appear to intrude the Palaeoproterozoic quartz-feldspar-magnetite gneisses of the Mount Woods Metamorphics. The cored gabbros, norites and anorthosites display evident interleaving of magnetite-ilmenite and pyroxene layers, with individual layers being up to 3 m thick. These mafic rocks also contain hydrous minerals such as biotite, are compositionally alkaline, and have a high volatile component, as revealed by the presence of apatite. They are believed to constitute the upper portion of a former magma chamber, and hold good potential for finding Fe-Ti-V mineralisation. Rare trace pyrrhotite and pyrite, which may be primary (magmatic) rather than metasomatic, were detected in the drill cores during petrographic examinations, however, the core sample assay values for platinum, palladium, nickel and copper were low. OZ Minerals considers that the target gravity anomaly has been adequately tested by this PACE drilling programme. Further work on the White Hill igneous complex is believed necessary in order to fully assess its mineralisation potential, and so other geophysical anomalies there will be investigated in the near future.

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About this record

Record No mesac22238
Topic Geoscientific Information
Type of Resource Document
Category Type
Document Type Mineral Company Report - Mineral Exploration
Contributor Pontifex and Associates Pty Ltd
Sponsor OZ Minerals Ltd
Tenement EL 3162
Tenement Holder OZ Minerals Prominent Hill Operations Pty Ltd;Toro Energy Ltd
Operator OZ Minerals Ltd
Geological Province
Mine Name
Stratigraphy
Commodity
Notes
Notes: PACE project code DPY5-19 : company submission includes exploration drilling actual total cost ($214,100.57 excluding Goods and Services Tax), out of which PACE Initiative funds have paid $100,000.00 (excl. GST).
Geographic Locality: White...

Notes: PACE project code DPY5-19 : company submission includes exploration drilling actual total cost ($214,100.57 excluding Goods and Services Tax), out of which PACE Initiative funds have paid $100,000.00 (excl. GST). Geographic Locality: White Hill;Mount Eba Station Doc No: Env 11938 Drillhole: DD08WTH004;(241877);DD08WTH005;(241878) Drillhole Unit No: 6038 00196;6038 00197

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Language English
Metadata Standard ISO 19115-3

Citations

Use constraints License
License Creative Commons Attribution 4.0
Persistent identifier https://pid.sarig.sa.gov.au/document/mesac22238
Citation Cibej, M.M.;Freeman, H.S.R.;Purvis, A.C. PACE Theme 2 (drilling partnerships with PIRSA and industry): Year 5 partnership DPY5-19. White Hill igneous complex Proterozoic magmatic PGE-Ni-Cu mineral prospects. Project final report. Mineral Company Report - Mineral Exploration
https://pid.sarig.sa.gov.au/document/mesac22238

Technical information

Status
Maintenance and Update Frequency
Geographic Reference GDA2020 (EPSG:7844)
Geo bounding box {"type":"Polygon","coordinates":[[[135.5,-30],[136,-30],[136,-29.5],[135.5,-29.5],[135.5,-30]]]}
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