Astro Resources NL (ASX:ARO) has hit the ground running after completing the acquisition of an 80% interest in the Georgina Project in the Northern Territory with its first diamond drilling program underway to test an IOCG target.
A 700-metre-deep diamond hole is being drilled to test what is considered to be the highly prospective Leichhardt East IOCG prospect.
This hole is targeting the intersection of the highest intensity magnetic and gravity anomalies identified previously on the tenement.
Consistent with IOCG
The structure and alteration observed nearby are consistent with IOCG-style mineralisation with anomalous chalcopyrite (copper) mineralisation intersected in nearby drilling
Leichhardt East is within the company’s highly prospective central tenement group south of the Barkly Homestead in the exploration frontier region of the Territory known as East Tennant.
Astro’s chairman Tony Leibowitz said: “We are very pleased to have been able to get on the ground at Georgina so quickly after obtaining shareholder approval.
“We have been able to leverage the significant investment that the former owner, Greenvale made in high-rigour exploration work, as well as its knowledge of the key stakeholders and operating conditions in the East Tennant region.”
In emerging region
Leichhardt East is close to regional scale faults and about 10 kilometres from Middle Island’s Crosswinds prospect, where copper mineralisation is exposed at surface.
Drilling conducted by the previous owner Greenvale Mining at nearby prospects earlier this year intersected the interpreted Alroy Formation, equivalent to the Warramunga formation which hosts high-grade copper-gold mineralisation at Tennant Creek.
These holes intersected variably hematite-chlorite altered rocks with common brecciation and identified minor chalcopyrite (copper mineral) mineralisation.
The previous drilling by Greenvale is considered to provide good evidence that an IOCG system has been intersected and that the Leichhardt East target may represent the best target in the area on account of its higher intensity magnetic and gravity anomalism.
Co-funded grant
Astro’s 80%-owned subsidiary Knox Resources Pty Ltd, which holds the Georgina Project, has been awarded a co-funding grant by the NT Government to drill the Leichhardt East hole under Round 15 of the Resourcing the Territory Geophysics and Drilling Collaborations Program.
Up to $171,050 will be funded as part of the grant, which constitutes 50% of eligible drilling costs.
The award of the co-funding grant is a reflection of the strong technical merit in testing the target, which is the highest-intensity magnetic response in the area.
“High quality of target”
“The Leichhardt East drill hole is one project amongst only six successful applicants for Round 15 NT Government Greenfields Drilling Grant funding, indicating the high quality of the target and the rationale behind the drilling,” Leibowitz said.
"We thank the NT Geological Survey for their support of the drilling proposal. I’m sure that they, along with Astro shareholders, will be closely watching to see what this drilling program can deliver.
“We are all excited about the opportunity to make a significant IOCG discovery in the East Tennant region.”