An area located on the south-eastern edge of the Gawler Ranges, extending northwards from near Corunna Station Homestead, has been explored for possible buried economic epithermal style base and precious metal mineralisation occurrences within the...
An area located on the south-eastern edge of the Gawler Ranges, extending northwards from near Corunna Station Homestead, has been explored for possible buried economic epithermal style base and precious metal mineralisation occurrences within the basement that are structurally controlled and might be related to Palaeoproterozoic and Mesoproterozoic igneous intrusive rocks. This area was chosen because it was thought to probably overlie interpreted hidden extensions to the prospective Uno Fault zone. During the first licence year, Musgrave Minerals performed a literature review of past exploration records and conducted surface infill soil and rock chip geochemical sampling plus targeted aircore drilling. The surface sampling was designed to confirm previous anomalous silver assay results ranging up to 9.7 g/t Ag which had previously been recorded in three separate places by Mega Hindmarsh from its 2011 lag sampling. 10 reconnaissance rock chip samples and 127 soil samples at a 200 m x 200 m grid spacing were collected by Musgrave Minerals and were laboratory assayed for a 34-element suite; the values obtained for silver either replicated or enhanced the original anomalies. Therefore in June 2015 those particular Areas 1-3 anomalies were tested by drilling 49 vertical aircore holes with a total penetration of 1741 m, spaced 100 m apart along short traverses, this work being partly subsidised by the SA Government under the PACE Initiative Discovery Drilling module as approved Year 8 collaborative drilling project DPY8-12 [for the final report done at completion of the project and issued separately by DSD in February 2017, see Env 12973]. Five of the 49 holes encountered combined base metal contents of greater than 0.5%. The anomalous Pb, Ag, Zn all came from Area 1b at the western side of the tenement. The best intercept was made in hole COAC017, of 3 m @ 1.66% Pb, 0.70% Zn and 4.15 g/t Ag from 24 m depth. The highest silver concentration was encountered in hole COAC021, with a peak return of 3 m @ 20.4 g/t Ag from 24 m depth, within a 21 m wide zone from 18 m depth that graded 12.5 g/t Ag. This bedrock - hosted mineralisation occurring in holes COAC017, 18, 19, 21 and 41, which are located adjacent to the Uno Fault and a possible sheared contact between Hutchison Group rocks and Burkitt Granite, is associated with strong possibly epithermal quartz veining and a visible very fine black mineral. Bedrock lithologies encountered by the other PACE holes variously comprise Burkitt Granite, gneiss and schist of the Hutchison Group, siltstone, sandstone and conglomerate of the Corunna Conglomerate, and rhyolite of the Gawler Range Volcanics. During licence Year 2, no work was done. During licence Year 3, Musgrave Minerals made a re-interpretation of three parallel localised structures which appeared to be related to the Uno Fault zone, and extended the surface soil geochemical sampling coverage northwards to encompass the newly inferred loci of these structures. In May 2017, 358 additional minus 80 mesh soil samples were collected at a 200 m x 200 m grid spacing and assayed using the same laboratory methods as previously. It was observed that the surface silver anomalies with >150 ppb Ag occur near the intersections of interpreted NW-SE and SW-NE faults, and have limited extent. However, beyond realising infill confirmation of the tenor of existing anomalies, no significant new silver anomalies were found from the 2017 soil sampling. Evaluation of spatial trends in the other assayed pathfinder elements indicated that the distributions of arsenic, bismuth, cobalt, lanthanum, molybdenum and lead could also be reflecting conjugate fault juncture controls on mineralisation. During licence Year 4, after Petratherm became a joint venture partner and began to fund and operate the exploration programme, activities included surface rock chip geochemical sampling, acquisition of a ground magnetic survey over the Area 1 prospect, and performing follow-up aircore drilling of structural targets. 12 rock chip samples were collected during a field reconnaissance visit made in July 2018, and were later laboratory assayed. The visit enabled a new silver prospect with intense stockwork veining to be identified within outcrop located 5.6 km along strike to the ENE of the Area 1 prospect. Here rock chip sample assay results included maximum values of 210 ppm Ag and 190 ppm Cu in one sample. Another find in the south of the licence area was an unrecorded historical prospector’s pit that was also rock chip sampled, later returning a 0.19% Ni assay value from spoils of excavated material. This site was seen to lie in the vicinity of some small discrete magnetic highs (caused by buried Archaean ?ultramafic intrusions) and it is slightly further east along the southern Gawler Ranges margin than other known nickel anomalies at the Diomedes and 12 Mile prospects. The ground magnetic survey conducted in August 2018 along lines spaced 50 m apart highlighted several untested narrow, de-magnetised, NNE-SSW structures likely to be associated with low-grade Ag-Pb-Zn mineralisation, and also defined discrete magnetic highs associated with elevated Ni. Petratherm next proceeded to drill test these targets. In September 2018, 42 vertical aircore holes were drilled for 1574 m, and intersected aphanitic black veining and limonite associated with clay, sericite, chlorite and silicic alteration along structures. Six holes recorded significant silver-lead-zinc intercepts. All of the downhole sample geochemical data were analysed using IoGAS discrimination software to characterise the host rock alteration type and intensity, which yielded index results that are consistent with the properties of a low sulphidation epithermal mineralising system. The 2018 drilling also extended the Area 1 prospect low grade Ag-Pb-Zn mineralised zone to cover a 300 m x 500 m area. During licence Year 5, no work was done. An application for renewal of the licence for a second five-year term was received by DEM in July 2019, but this was withdrawn by the JV partners a month later, and tenure consequently lapsed at expiry of the reporting year.
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