Surefire Resources NL (ASX:SRN) has uncovered an extensive copper-zinc zone to the east of its Yidby Gold Project in the highly prospective Yalgoo-Singleton greenstone belt in Western Australia's Murchison province.
The company received highly anomalous copper and zinc assays from soil samples collected at the project area called Phat Boy, which is on the Yidby Project’s easternmost tenement, EL2426, east of the gold discovery.
Phat Boy lies between two major interpreted VMS deposits — Golden Grove and Mount Gibson.
The Golden Grove volcanic hosted massive sulphide (VHMS) deposit is 50 kilometres northwest from Yidby East in the Warrieddar fold belt.
Here, mineralisation occurs along the northeastern flank of the structure associated with folded banded iron stones, meta-volcanics and volcanic-derived sediments.
Surefire conducted a detailed soil sampling program in July 2024 over an area where previous exploration had reported anomalous copper in soil samples.
Samples were collected on north-south lines 250 metres apart and at 100-metre intervals. A total of 161 soil samples were collected and submitted for lab analysis.
The anomaly is contiguous across a width of 5 kilometres. Assays included up to 1,000 ppm nickel, 310 ppm copper; 100 ppm zinc, 100 ppm cobalt and 452 ppm sulphur. Surefire notes that numerous samples over 200 ppm copper occur in the soil samples.
Contoured laboratory XRF copper results, geology and previous exploration significant results. Yellow shaded areas are for further follow-up sampling.
Additionally, five rock samples were collected and submitted to Nagrom laboratory for fusion XRF assay.
One sample of a gossan showed enrichment to 270 ppm nickel, 460 ppm copper, 200 ppm zinc, and 100 ppm cobalt. A banded Iron formation and shear zone were also noted near the anomalous assays.
A gossanous sample that assayed 270ppm nickel, 460ppm copper and 200ppm zinc.
Previous exploration
A review of previous exploration by Surefire revealed gossans recorded in and around the extensive banded iron formation that dominates the area, with up to 2000 ppm nickel in rock chip samples and up to 101 ppm gold in stream sediment sampling.
Sulphides, including chalcopyrite and native copper, were also reported from drilling carried out by Prosperity Resources Ltd in 2008 during investigations of the Iron grade and potential of the banded iron formation.
Prosperity noted the potential for VMS-style mineralisation, saying, “the presence of disseminated sulphide mineralisation (pyrite, chalcopyrite and native copper) within high magnesian basalts, is thought to be related to seafloor volcanism and may suggest that potential exists for VMS style mineralisation within the area.”
Capricorn Metals’ Mount Gibson gold deposit is 30 kilometres south of Yidby in an extension of the greenstone and banded iron formation package. Capricorn believes the mineralisation at Mount Gibson to have originally been a gold-copper-zinc rich VHMS deposit that was overprinted by a later hydrothermal gold mineralising event.
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