Indiana resumes quest for gold and rare earths in South Australia

New exploration campaign begins at Indiana’s Central Gawler Graton project with a focus on rare earths, gold and base metals prospects
Programs, budgets and approvals being prepared for remainder of this year and 2024
Indiana preparing to enforce its Award for almost US$120 million in compensation for unlawful expropriation of Tanzanian nickel asset

Special Report: Indiana Resources has resumed exploration for rare earths, gold and base metals in the Gawler Craton, home to some of South Australia’s – and Australia’s – most prolific mining operations.

These include Olympic Dam, Carrapateena and Prominent Hill, which are all currently part of the BHP (ASX: BHP) stable.

Indiana Resources (ASX: IDA) started acquiring the ground which makes up its 5,713km2 Central Gawler Craton project a little more than three years ago. The southern edge of the company’s tenements adjoins the 965,000oz Tunkillia gold resource and the historical mining centre of Tarcoola.

Last month’s $3.8 million placement will fund this next phase of exploration. Indiana also recently welcomed back seasoned geologist Mat Perrot as exploration manager to drive the company’s South Australian exploration strategy.

Indiana hopes the information gained from the upcoming geological mapping exercise will assist in the evaluation of addition prospect areas, define key targets and inform decisions around future exploration programs.

More than one ‘X’ on Indiana’s map

Geological mapping will take place on several key prospects such as Minos-Ariadne, Company Well, Partridge, Earea Dam, Moolkra and Double Dutch where prospectivity for rare earths and gold has previously been confirmed.

A geological assessment of the base metals potential at Hopeful Hill is also planned.

Field reconnaissance work completed last month confirmed the presence of significant outcrop across the rare earths and gold targets.

Mapping along the 3.4km trend at Minos-Ariadne will look to identify additional features associated with the mineralisation, in particular the relationship between Company Well, Partridge and the Lake Labyrinth shear zone. Exploration completed here by both Indiana and previous explorers has focused on advanced gold targets.

Indiana has secured a grant from the South Australian Government’s Accelerated Discovery Initiative (ADI) to complete a new helicopter airborne electromagnetic survey in the Hopeful Hill greenstone belt. The last survey was undertaken in late 2022.

A recent site visit to Hopeful Hill confirmed the dominant rock-type was ultramafic lithologies capable of hosting nickel-copper-cobalt-PGE mineralisation. Mapping will determine the stratigraphy of the region and explore for gossans in the area.

Planning well under way for future exploration

Exploration programs and budgets for the remainder of this year and into 2024 are currently being prepared, with more details regarding the proposed activities and timelines expected in the next few weeks.

“It is exciting to see exploration activity in the field under way,” Indiana executive chair Bronwyn Barnes said.

“The information from this programme will provide the company with fundamental geological mapping and sampling that will expand and consolidate our knowledge of the project area and critically inform our planned drilling programs.”

Indiana has lodged two new Exploration Program for Environmental Protection and Rehabilitation (EPEPR) applications with the South Australian Government for future exploration outside of its existing regulatory and heritage approvals.

The company is also in line for the lion’s share of almost US$120 million in compensation for the unlawful expropriation by the Tanzanian Government of the Ntaka Hill nickel sulphide project in early 2018.

Earlier this month Tanzania was given 45 days to provide a written undertaking that it will compensate Indiana, or the company becomes eligible to start seizing Tanzania’s assets in lieu of cash payment from 15 December 2023.

This article was developed in collaboration with Indiana Resources, 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.