Taruga Minerals (ASX:TAR) has uncovered what could be a significant new iron oxide-copper-gold (IOCG) deposit, reporting very high grades of copper and gold at its Flinders project in South Australia.

The Flinders project, which the company has a 12-month option over to acquire from Strikeline Resources, sits close to BHP’s giant Olympic Dam mine.

The recent reprocessing of government airborne magnetic data has not only extended the strike length of potential copper and gold mineralisation at the Woolshed prospect to more than 3km, it also highlighted the potential for new IOCG-style targets across 15km at the project.

The data revealed peak rock chips grading up to 14.9 per cent copper and 4.73 grams per tonne (g/t) gold, with copper and gold mineralisation starting at surface.

Taruga is focusing on IOCG-style mineralisation at the intersection of two structural corridors that host tier one projects like the giant Olympic Dam mine.

The new Jenkins prospect in the north extends the prospective strike length to more than 15km at Flinders.

Investors welcomed the news this morning, pushing shares up nearly 8 per cent to 1.4c.

 

Taruga says the reprocessing of the geophysical data and reconnaissance field mapping and sampling of volcanic breccias has confirmed mineralisation at surface and potentially supports a larger IOCG mineralised model.

Historic shallow drilling on the Jenkins North magnetic anomaly confirmed the presence of brecciated mafic volcanics similar to those exposed at the Woolshed prospect.

Taruga says Jenkins North is associated with a pipe-like magnetic core from near surface to depths exceeding 800m.

 

A long history of mining

Mining of the Warrakimbo Main Lode at Flinders dates back to the late 1800s.

Underground sampling of this lode returned very high grades including 50.2 per cent copper and 5.5g/t silver; 45.6 per cent copper and 0.293 per cent cobalt; and 25.6 per cent copper, 12g/t silver and 0.05g/t gold.

Taruga also recently identified a new prospect, called Rainy Day, that shows evidence of strong copper mineralisation at surface and is hosted within a mineralised breccia similar to the Main Lode.

Taruga
Reprocessed government magnetic image showing association of existing and new IOCG-style targets

Rainy Day sits within the same non-magnetic unit as the Main Lode, the Etina Formation, and is located about 6km to the north.

Taruga has submitted samples to ALS Global to assess the gold, copper and other mineral potential. Results are expected in two to three weeks.

The company plans to begin geochemical soil sampling and mapping programs in early June, while additional geophysical reprocessing is ongoing.