Taiton Resources Ltd (ASX:T88) is gearing up for its maiden reverse circulation (RC) drill program at the Highway Project in the resource-rich Gawler Craton of South Australia, where it plans to initially complete 3,000 metres of orientation drilling to test for a potential magmatic system at the Merino prospect.
This follows the green light received from the Department of Mines and Energy for a program to identify the potential mineralisation and type of metal content at the prospect.
The company has engaged a drill contractor along with geological crews and plans to commence the drill program this month.
Location of planned drilling coloured by priority.
Hopeful of new mineral system
“The time has finally come for Taiton to prove the prospectivity of the Highway Project,” Taiton Resources executive director Noel Ong said.
“It has taken a lot longer than we have had liked to get to this stage but nonetheless we are extremely excited to be finally able to begin our drilling stage.
“The drilling program will begin a steady flow of news in the coming months.
“The news flow will hopefully outline the steps in unveiling a new mineral system in South Australia.”
Systematic approach
Due to the size of the area, the company has planned a large alteration outline of 3.7 kilometres-by-2.6 kilometres to a depth of more than 500 metres for the exploration program.
It will initially focus on high-priority targets identified from historical geochemical data and a recent IP survey.
“The pending results from the UltraFine soil survey will hopefully allow the company to start looking out of the Merino prospect and begin testing the other prospective parts of the Highway Project,” Ong said.
Location of Taiton's South Australian projects.
Investigating the mineral composition
To date, the company has identified geochemical anomalism and alteration signatures that suggest the presence of a magmatic-hydrothermal system driven by an interpreted intrusion.
While the geological model has yet to be determined, the interpreted intrusion points to a molybdenum porphyry system or a potential polymetallic greisen, the latter based on an in-house interpretation.
“The board would like to thank the exploration team in ensuring exploration continued while they worked tirelessly in getting the EPEPR (Environment Protection and Rehabilitation) completed and approved,” Ong added.