Special Report: Impact’s drilling at the Red Hill intrusion has returned strongly anomalous palladium, platinum and gold (3PGE) along with copper and nickel in most of the holes.

This includes a stand out drill intercept of 138 metres at 0.3 g/t 3PGE (palladium+platinum+gold) including 12 metres at 1.5 g/t 3PGE, 0.3% nickel and 0.2% copper

Importantly, all of this mineralisation is located within the so-called chilled margin of the Red Hill intrusion within the Broken Hill project in New South Wales.

Chilled margins are formed when hot liquid magma intrude into colder country rock and the magma close to the contact cools much more quickly than the main body of magma.

Impact Minerals (ASX:IPT) notes that the chemistry of the chilled margin typically reflects the primary composition of the parental magma.

Accordingly, the extensive mineralisation intersected in the chilled margin is an indicator that that the parental magma of Red Hill was extremely fertile and carried significant amounts of 3PGE and likely copper and nickel.

This indicates that there is potential to form a massive sulphide deposit in an appropriate trap site.

In addition, the CSIRO has also published work showing that chonoliths and other steeply dipping mafic-ultramafic intrusions that host significant massive sulphide deposits, commonly have mineralised chilled margins up to hundreds of metres away from the deposits themselves.

These chilled margins may lie well above the massive sulphide deposits which can occur at the base of the intrusions.

Examples include the Eagle and Eagle East deposits in the North America that are modest tonnage deposits with exceptional grades, making them ideal targets for junior explorers.

This simply means that there is a compelling drill target deeper within the Red Hill chonolith.

 

Next steps

Impact is currently using the extensive magnetic susceptibility data it collected during its drill programs to determine the geology of the Red Hill intrusion and optimise drill hole locations.

Drilling at Red Hill will be incorporated into a major drill program to follow up on breakthrough drill results at the company’s Platinum Springs and Little Broken Hill Gabbro prospects, assays of which are due within a few weeks.

Work is also on-going planning the maiden drill programme at Impact’s Apsley porphyry copper-gold target where final data from the ground induced polarisation survey has now been received and a detailed interpretation is in progress.

 

 

 

This article was developed in collaboration with Impact Minerals, a Stockhead advertiser at the time of publishing.  

This article does not constitute financial product advice. You should consider obtaining independent advice before making any financial decisions.

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