The company intendeds to use WA Government co-funding to complete follow up drilling in 2025. Pic: via Getty Images
Norwest Minerals eyes economic base metals potential at West Arunta
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- Norwest finds economic VMS style zinc-lead mineralisation at Arunta West project
- Polymetallic mineralisation often occurs in clusters, simplifying extraction
- Further RC drilling planned partially funded by WA Exploration Incentive Scheme
Special Report: Norwest Minerals has hit volcanogenic massive sulphide style mineralisation in RC drilling at the Tamba prospect within its West Arunta project in WA – indicating wide zones of highly anomalous zinc and lead mineralisation.
Norwest Minerals (ASX:NWM) is drilling for critical minerals like carbonatite hosted niobium, iron oxide-copper-gold mineralisation and precious metals at the project, which are used in a wide range of industrial and green energy applications.
The excitement around the potential discovery will be heightened thanks to its proximity to WA1 Resources’ (ASX:WA1) mammoth Luni discovery, the most significant niobium resource to be found in more than 70 years. Luni’s unsheathing has trained eyes on the West Arunta region as the host of the next great mining frontier in Australia.
NWM’s Tamba prospect is a larger copper-gold anomaly which hosts the ‘Dales Gossan’ outcrop target where the company has intersected a ~40m wide zone of near surface VMS style zinc-lead mineralisation.
VMS style mineralisation is promising from an economic standpoint, as it often occurs in polymetallic clusters, making extraction more cost effective.
The aircore/RC program at Tamba tested three targets including a high-priority gossan outcrop, a large copper-gold soil anomaly and an iron oxide copper-gold soil anomaly.
Based on the geological drill hole logging and preliminary XRF readings, the company says all three Tamba prospect targets have potential for economic mineralisation.
Follow up RC drilling planned
Follow up RC drilling and an electromagnetic ground survey over the VMS area is being planned, with EM in particular commonly used in the detection and modelling of conductive sulphide mineralisation.
“Clearly, Norwest is excited by the results of its Tamba scout drilling program,” CEO Charles Schaus said.
“The identification of VMS-style mineralisation at ‘Dales Gossan’ is supported by geological logging and pXFR analyser readings indicating wide zones of highly anomalous zinc and lead mineralisation.
“Norwest is planning a return to Tamba for further RC drilling of prospective VMS zones down dip and along strike of the discovery holes following the completion of drilling at Malibu.
“We look forward to receiving the lab assay results of this exciting drill program.”
Notably, the aircore and RC drilling also encountered multiple intervals of stacked quartz veins with sulphides coincident to the large Tamba gold-in-soil target.
Those gold assay results will be available by early December.
EIS Co-funding confirmed
Last week, Norwest was notified of its successful Exploration Incentive Scheme application for co-funded RC drilling at its Arunta West project.
The WA Government scheme offers a 50% refund of direct drilling and mobilisation costs of up to $180,000.
The company will apply the co-funding toward follow-up drilling of the highly prospective West Arunta targets in 2025.
This article was developed in collaboration with Norwest 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.
