Between April and August 2009, exploratory drilling was undertaken by Iluka on EL 3233 (94 holes for 5052.5 m along 6 traverses, at a nominal spacing of 800 m to 1 km). 779 samples with a visually estimated grade of >0.5% HM were taken from 76...
Between April and August 2009, exploratory drilling was undertaken by Iluka on EL 3233 (94 holes for 5052.5 m along 6 traverses, at a nominal spacing of 800 m to 1 km). 779 samples with a visually estimated grade of >0.5% HM were taken from 76 holes for HM assaying. A preliminary Indicated in situ Resource of 0.33 Mt of heavy minerals (containing 66% zircon, 13% ilmenite and 4% rutile) with an average grade of 2.5% was calculated for the portion of the Tripitaka deposit which lies on EL 3233. During the reporting period there was no drilling or other work undertaken on EL 3316. A preliminary Indicated in situ Resource of 0.58 Mt of heavy minerals (containing 65% zircon, 7% ilmenite and 5% rutile) with an average grade of 2.2% was calculated for the portion of the Tripitaka deposit which lies on EL 3316. During the reporting period there was no drilling or other work undertaken on EL 3333. Between April and August 2009, exploratory drilling was undertaken by Iluka on EL 3637 (242 holes for 11,335.6 m along 6 traverses, at a nominal spacing of 800 m to 1 km). 185 samples were taken from 21 holes for HM assaying. On EL 3638, work undertaken during the 2009-2010 joint reporting period included resource delineation drilling of the Typhoon prospect (4 vertical RC aircore holes for 51 m, at a nominal 100 m spacing) and regional exploration drilling along traverses (6 similar holes for 321 m, at a nominal 800 m spacing). 51 sediment samples were collected and submitted to Iluka’s Hamilton laboratories for HM assaying. In late 2009, some near-mine surface mineralogical sampling was undertaken, involving the collection and panning of remobilised surface aeolian sand samples to estimate their HM content. A total of 21 grab samples were collected, with 16 samples being submitted for assaying. On EL 3742, work undertaken during the 2009-2010 joint reporting period included resource delineation drilling of the Typhoon prospect, which lies 16 km south of the Jacinth mine site (53 vertical RC aircore holes for 1478.5 m, at a nominal 100 m spacing), plus regional exploratory drilling along traverses in the northern part of the tenement (98 similar holes for 5499.7 m, at a nominal 800 m spacing). 1478 sediment samples were collected from 84 holes at Typhoon, and another 315 samples were taken from 15 of the regional exploratory holes which had encountered HMS mineralisation spread over an area 8-10 km north-east of Ambrosia, with all of these samples then being submitted to Iluka’s Hamilton laboratories for HM assaying. In late 2009, some near-mine surface soil mineralogical sampling was undertaken, involving the collection and panning of remobilised surface aeolian sand samples to estimate their HM content. A total of 91 grab samples were collected, with 34 samples being submitted for assaying. During 2006, Iluka had undertaken a Ground Penetrating Radar (GPR) survey over the Jacinth deposit. The results then obtained (using a Mala system) were poor, due to the conductivity of the subsurface materials there, which resulted in complete signal attenuation. However, recent developments in the field of GPR have led to advances in electronics and antenna transmitting power. With this in mind, Iluka and contractor Groundradar undertook a second GPR survey along four transects over excavated test pit sections of the Jacinth orebody, using the new-to-market UltraGPR technology. But again, due to the high conductivity of the geological materials at Jacinth, complete signal attenuation was observed once more.
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