An area centred approximately 70 km west of Broken Hill is being explored for possible economic buried Broken Hill type Pb-Ag-Zn mineralisation that may be hosted by metasediments of the Palaeoproterozoic Wilyama Supergroup, as well as for...
An area centred approximately 70 km west of Broken Hill is being explored for possible economic buried Broken Hill type Pb-Ag-Zn mineralisation that may be hosted by metasediments of the Palaeoproterozoic Wilyama Supergroup, as well as for possible Kalkaroo or Portia style copper-gold mineralisation that may have formed within igneous intrusions and adjacent older basement metasediments. Reports of bedrock Cu-Pb-Zn geochemical anomalies encountered by historic RAB drillholes attracted Minotaur to the area to conduct follow-up investigations. During the first licence year, exploration activities included: - a review of historical exploration activities; - the selection of geophysical targets; - a review of existing Noranda and Minotaur/Sumitomo VTEM data; and - the acquisition of ground EM surveys at the previously defined MIQ23 West, Old Lake Dismal and Cottage Tank prospects. No basement conductors were detected at Old Lake Dismal and Cottage Tank, so no further work at these prospects was recommended. A basement conductor was detected at MIQ23 West, but apparently has poor conductivity thickness, and therefore was not recommended for drilling. During the second licence year, another VTEM anomaly defined from Minotaur's 2009 work on its prior EL 3596 (cf. Env 9872) was identified as requiring investigation, when a plot of the location of MiV008 over the regional TMI image revealed that the anomaly is located in a structurally interesting position. It is associated with a moderate strength EW trending magnetic feature juxtaposed to a continuation of the de-magnetised MiQ23 anomaly trend/shear zone. Ground geophysical surveying of this VTEM anomaly was planned by Minotaur to determine if it represents a valid conductor within the basement geology, possibly worthy of drill testing. A ground magnetic survey consisting of 21 x 1.5 km length lines was proposed to cover the MiV008 anomaly and better resolve the magnetic stratigraphy below shallow cover. This would be followed by the reading of three 1 km long lines of moving loop ground EM survey. During the third licence year, Minotaur acquired 7 x 1 km lines of moving loop ground EM over two separate VTEM anomalies, viz. MiV008 and MiV012, to test if these anomalies had arisen from valid basement conductors. No basement conductors were detected at MiV008, and a large, shallowly dipping conductor with poor conductivity was detected a depth of 90 m at MiV012. It was recommended that, despite the poor quality of the conductor, drill testing of the MiV012 anomaly be performed due to its relationship with a significant magnetic anomaly. During the fourth licence year, no on ground field work was completed on the tenement. Previous exploration in the area revealed geochemically anomalous basement coincident with low magnetic intensity areas. An exploration rationale of exploring for base metal mineralisation within stratigraphy in low magnetic intensity zones adjacent to subtle gravity features is proposed for the tenement. Low intensity magnetic zones in this region are interpreted to represent in-folded or sub-basins of Upper Thackaringa and Broken Hill Group stratigraphy, both of which are prospective for Cu-Au and Broken Hill-style Pb-Zn-Ag mineralisation. A detailed gravity survey of 670 stations with station spacing comparable to BHEI station spacing of 250m x 500m is proposed to delineate gravity anomalies within low magnetic intensity zones within the tenement. If gravity anomalies are detected these will be followed up with IP surveying in selected target areas. The current gravity station spacing on EL4270 Woodville Dam is generally 1km x 2km with several 1km x 1km stations in the northern part of the tenement. During the fifth licence year, work was restricted to office-based studies. Historical Airborne EM data compilation was undertaken, utilising VTEM data collected by Noranda from 2003 to 2006 on adjoining tenements. Further effort was put into the compilation of historical exploration data for the area.
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