• Miramar completes initial diamond drilling campaign at Whaleshark
  • Bedrock copper mineralisation (chalcopyrite) intersected in two holes
  • Core being processed for analysis – further drilling planned

 

Miramar’s executive chairman Allan Kelly says initial diamond drilling at Whaleshark hit bedrock copper, providing the most significant evidence for IOCG mineralisation since the project was first highlighted by WMC the 1990s.

Since acquiring the Whaleshark project in WA’s Ashburton region in early 2021, Miramar Resources’ (ASX:M2R) has carried out a range of work that has returned strongly anomalous copper, cobalt, gold, silver and other IOCG pathfinders in shallow aircore drilling.

Iron oxide copper gold ore deposits (IOCG), like BHP’s (ASX:BHP) Olympic Dam, are simple-to-process concentrations of copper, gold and other economic minerals.

They also have the reputation to be ‘company’ makers, given their tremendous size, with Olympic Dam being the third largest copper equivalent deposit and third largest gold deposit in the world.

M2R’s executive chairman Alan Kelly has long believed the project holds the potential to host a large, shallow IOCG deposit.

It has the right aged rocks, the right style of alteration, and the right combination of elements typically associated with IOCG mineralisation.

The project is characterised by a large Proterozoic banded iron formation and granite intrusion beneath approximately 100m of Cretaceous sediments of the Northern Carnarvon Basin.

 

Drilling hits bedrock copper

Miramar has now confirmed the presence of bedrock copper sulphide mineralisation (chalcopyrite) in two of three deeper holes drilled at Whaleshark, with the most significant copper mineralisation observed within a steeply dipping shear zone in WSDD002 at 231.6m.

Rafts of brown iron oxide-rich material were also observed within the shear zone indicating that the copper sulphides and iron-rich rafts “had been dragged into the NW-trending structure from elsewhere”.

The campaign targeted a discrete gravity anomaly within the Whaleshark granite, which is crosscut by a NW-trending structure and located beneath coincident MMI soil anomalism and strongly anomalous “interface” aircore results up to 435ppm copper, 889ppm cobalt and 7.7g/t silver.

According to Kelly, this is the most significant evidence of the potential for IOCG mineralisation at Whaleshark since the project was first highlighted by WMC Resources in the mid 1990’s.

“We have now confirmed the presence of bedrock copper sulphide mineralisation at Whaleshark for the first time indicating the MMI and aircore anomalies have a bedrock source,” Mr Kelly said.

 

What’s coming up?

Miramar is planning more drilling at Whaleshark along this NW trending fault.

“Given the strong relationship between copper mineralisation and iron oxides in this style of deposit, our next step will be to drill test the other MMI, gravity and aircore anomalies associated with the Banded Iron Formation at each end of the NW-trending structure,” he says.

Core from the three holes was logged on site in Onslow and has been shipped to Kalgoorlie for cutting, sampling and analysis.

Results for these holes will be released once received and processed.

 

 

This article was developed in collaboration with Miramar 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.

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