Australian resource company Surefire Resources NL (ASX:SRN) is going in with the drills again at the Phat Boy prospect, part of the company’s 100%-owned Yidby East Project in the mid-west of Western Australia.
The exploration will follow up on highly anomalous copper and zinc revealed in recent assays.
Gold, not copper and zinc, tested
Previous exploration in the area has been focused on gold, but has not to date tested broad copper-zinc anomalism that points to the presence of other mineralisation styles in the area.
The company uncovered the anomalous results from broad spaced soil grid sampling to the east of its main Yidby gold project.
Four coincident copper and zinc anomalous zones were delineated along the margin of an inferred shear zone adjacent to an outcropping folded banded iron formation.
The anomalous zones each range from around 400 metres by 500 metres up to 1 kilometre by 500 metres in size and are contiguous across sample lines.
The geochemical results have highlighted zones on the northern limb of the banded iron formation, with similarities to the Golden Grove Volcanogenic Hosted Massive Sulphide (VHMS) deposit.
The extent and tenor of the coincident copper and zinc anomalies are of immediate interest.
The company is planning to conduct a program of detailed soil sampling, rock chip sampling and mapping over the target zones during the next week with the aim of refining the anomalies to produce drill targets.
Government funding
Surefire has submitted an application under the West Australian Government’s Exploration Incentive Scheme for co-funded exploration drilling.
The proposed drilling would aim to both confirm the geological model of a VHMS setting and explore geochemical targets derived from the follow up sampling.
Managing director Paul Burton said: “The tenor and coincidence of the copper and zinc results are very anomalous and enhances the prospectivity of our Yidby Project tenements.
“The analogies to Golden Grove and the extent of the anomalism up to 500 metres by 1 kilometre provides ample room for significant mineralisation to occur below surface.
“This next phase of sampling will tighten up the anomalies and define drill targets.
“The team here at Surefire is very excited about the prospectivity of this area which could become a major project for the company.
“While our focus remains on progressing our flagship Victory Bore project, we are excited to add value to our other projects by further on-ground exploration.”