Two adjoining licence areas located within the north-eastern Gawler Craton, to the east of the Mount Woods Domain, and centred about 150 km NNW of the Olympic Dam mine, were taken up to explore for possible economic buried IOCGU mineralisation...
Two adjoining licence areas located within the north-eastern Gawler Craton, to the east of the Mount Woods Domain, and centred about 150 km NNW of the Olympic Dam mine, were taken up to explore for possible economic buried IOCGU mineralisation which might exist within Palaeoproterozoic basement rocks. Initially, existing geophysical datasets (gravity and magnetic) were obtained, processed via unconstrained inversions, and interpreted during 2013 by the licensee's consultant Moore Geophysics, who discerned some deep crustal structures trending NW/SE and bisecting both tenements, as well as other, cross-cutting structures orientated E/W and NW/SE. His 3D inversion modelling of the gravity data indicated the presence of several dense subsurface bodies roughly aligned with the regional fabric. A moderate to high amplitude magnetic anomaly appeared to exist within EL 5231, and 3D inversion suggested that this is likely to be caused by a deep seated intrusive body with a depth of ~5 km. Moore recommended that additional gravity data be collected to infill the existing regional grid, as well as acquiring high resolution magnetic data. Prospective features he identified were a major NW/SE aligned crustal structure with associated secondary faults and potential dilation zones, which could represent former pathways for mineralising fluids, plus offset gravity and magnetic anomalies which might represent magnetite/haematite alteration. The licensee began this new data acquisition during March-April 2014, when Aeroquest Surveys were contracted to fly low level helimag/rad profiles along two existing Linc Energy seismic survey lines, LNC11-30 and LNC11-31, to obtain aeromagnetic data readings at 2 m horizontal resolution that could be used to refine magnetic basement depth estimates across both licence areas. The total airborne coverage was 140 line km, using a 20 m mean sensor height above the ground surface. In July 2014, at the start of project Year 2, Daishsat was contracted to acquire ground gravity survey data that infilled the existing 1.5 km spaced PACE Northern Olympic Domain grid. 1344 new stations were read at points equidistant from those earlier grid intercepts, to yield an effective 750 m spaced semi-regional coverage for both licences. In addition, two semi-detailed gravity traverses, totalling 275 stations that were read at 250 m intervals, were acquired along the above-mentioned two regional seismic lines, to provide coincident gravity, aeromagnetic and seismic information about the subsurface structure. No further exploration occurred on the project ground during Years 3 and 4, before a decision was made to surrender Billa Kalina EL 5255 at licence expiry on 27/5/2017. A gravity anomaly located on the retained Binda Boudna EL 5231 was subjected to further target modelling and interpretation, to better define its relationship to the deep-seated magnetic body. During Year 5 of EL 5231, no further work was done. Prevailing market conditions did not suit capital raising to fund drill testing of deep IOCG targets, and changing company priorities determined that the licence tenure was allowed to expire.
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