Miramar Resources Ltd aims to add to its suite of polymetallic assets in premier mineral resource areas of Western Australia through an Exploration Licence Application (ELA) over copper and uranium occurrences in the northern Gascoyne Region.
ELA E08/3676 covers part of an outcropping Durlacher Supersuite granite, the same unit that hosts the Yangibana (Hastings) and YIN (Dreadnought) rare earth element (REE) deposits.
The application also covers numerous north-south trending Mundine Well dolerite dykes, along strike from Dreadnought’s Mangaroon nickel-copper-PGE prospect.
This area contains the ‘Chain Pool’ uranium occurrence and the historic ‘Joy Helen’ copper-lead-silver mine.
Gascoyne opportunities
Miramar’s executive chairman Allan Kelly said the Gascoyne region provided the opportunity for the discovery of multiple commodities and deposit types.
“This new application is prospective for base metal mineralisation hosted in sediments of the Edmund Basin, uranium and/or REE mineralisation associated with the Durlacher Supersuite granitoid, and potentially also nickel-copper-PGE mineralisation associated with Mundine Well dolerite dykes,” he said.
“We look forward to progressing the tenement to grant and getting out on the ground,” he added.
Chain Pool prospect
From 2009 to 2011 previous owner Raisama Limited conducted exploration targeting uranium mineralisation associated with the granitoid including a detailed airborne magnetic and radiometric survey across the entire granitoid batholith, followed by limited reconnaissance rock chip sampling and RC drilling.
The highest rock chip result of 1,898ppm U (ie 2,248ppm U3O8) came from a sample in what is now known as the 'Chain Pool' prospect. Only two rock chip samples, about 1.4 kilometres apart, were ever taken within the 5-kilometre-long radiometric anomaly.
A single RC drill hole was drilled to 80 metres and tested the radiometric anomaly beneath the highest rock chip result but failed to intersect significant uranium mineralisation.
Given the areal extent of the uranium anomalism, the similarities in geology to Yangibana, and the lack of any systematic sampling or drilling, the area remains prospective for uranium and/or REE mineralisation.
In addition, the Mundine Well dolerite dykes have apparently never been investigated for nickel-copper-PGE mineralisation.
Joy Helen workings
In 2007, the previous owner Dominion Mining Ltd collected rock chip samples, including around the Joy Helen copper lead-silver workings in the Edmund Basin.
According to WAMEX Report a075044:
“Significant results included numerous mineralised Pb, Ag, and Cu sampled from the Joy Helen prospect workings. (Max. 33.98% Pb, 8.85% Cu, and 22.95ppm Ag). Anomalous gossan and duricrust samples were also identified proximal to regionally mapped structural features and magnetic anomalies (Max 0.93ppm Ag, 397.7ppm Co, 4225ppm Pb, 2901 ppm Zn).”
No further work was completed and the tenement was subsequently surrendered. As such, the prospect has not been subjected to any modern and/or systematic exploration, including drilling.
As well as the Gascoyne region, Miramar also has prospects in the Eastern Goldfields and Murchison regions of the state.