Helix Resources Ltd (ASX:HLX) has delineated two new areas of widespread gold and antimony anomalism, significantly extending the copper-gold prospectivity of the Collerina Copper Trend in the company’s Eastern Group tenements in central NSW.
New assays from shallow auger drill samples identified the two new targets — Iowaba and Tarawera - at the project, which is southeast of Nyngan.
These anomalies occur 20 kilometres and 35 kilometres north of the newly identified Aldebaran prospect where broad multi-kilometre scale antimony and arsenic anomalies were reported. Antimony and arsenic are important pathfinder elements for gold and copper.
The pathfinders returning anomalous values such as gold, antimony and arsenic are regionally important; indicative of copper-gold deposits being mined and developed to the north by Aeris Resources Ltd (ASX:AIS, OTC:ARSRF) hosted within the same prospective structural corridor.
In prospective corridor
Helix managing director Kylie Prendergast said: “The prospective corridor, we refer to as the Collerina Copper Trend, extends south from the Aeris copper tenements through Helix’s Eastern Group tenements for over 100 kilometres of strike length.
“The new auger results, which only test part of this corridor, continue to confirm this is a major prospective zone with signatures indicative of copper-gold mineralisation such as those occurring at Aeris’ Tritton Copper Operations - which have been producing 20,000-30,000 tonnes per annum of copper plus gold for the past 30 years.
“The auger programs have been highly effective at identifying new target areas, enabling Helix to zero in on the strongest signatures for new copper-gold discoveries.
"New targets can be rapidly advanced in the Helix pipeline to drill-ready by undertaking infill auger programs, analysing the geochemical signatures and in areas of deeper cover, aircore drilling.
“Over the past six months, Helix has focused on advancing several priority targets in its pipeline which we believe have potential to deliver a new copper-gold discovery in the highly endowed Cobar region close to established operations and processing facilities.”
Exploration continues
Several ‘geochemical hotspots’ within the Collerina Copper Trend are being defined, with many areas being systematically sampled for the first time.
At Iowaba and Tarawera there are multiple auger samples with greater than 20 parts per billion gold results emerging over a 10-kilometre area, with many results still pending at the laboratory.
At Honeybugle, several samples greater than 20 parts per billion gold occur over a 5-kilometre area with effective auger coverage limited by cover associated with a paleochannel.
Helix identified these anomalies in a widely spaced, reconnaissance-scale auger sampling program. Follow-up programs will initially include infill auger and, where needed, aircore drilling to define targets for drill testing.
The company has been undertaking regional-scale exploration in the Eastern Group aimed at new discoveries for some years.
Exploration is ongoing with work to date consisting of airborne and ground geophysics, auger geochemical sampling, geological prospecting and reconnaissance rock chip sampling.
The Eastern Group tenements cover around 1,570 square kilometres of prospective copper trends and stratigraphy in the Girilambone Group, west and southwest of Nyngan. The northern boundary is 18 kilometres south from Aeris Resources’ Tritton Copper Operations.
Eastern Group tenure, targets and antimony element map. The prospective corridor extends onto Aeris Resources’ tenements.
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