Australian Mines Ltd (ASX:AUZ) (FRA:MJH) has scheduled four diamond drill holes to test an iron oxide copper gold (IOCG) target at its Arunta West project in Western Australia.
The project is being transferred to Australian Mines’ fully-owned subsidiary Norwest Minerals Pty Ltd, which plans to complete an initial public offering by the end of October.
The company has also secured a mineral exploration and land access deed of agreement with the Tjamu Tjamu Aboriginal Corporation, which manages the land covering the project.
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The drilling follows collection and processing of detailed gravity and magnetic data, which enabled optimal positioning of holes across the North Dovers target.
Interpretation of the results indicate North Dovers’ geophysical signature resembles that of IOCG mineralisation in the Gawler Craton, potentially comparable to Ernest Henry or Olympic Dam-style mineralisation.
Further early-stage exploration will be conducted over the broader prospect area, including surface geochemistry sampling, to develop additional drill targets.
North Dovers is primarily defined by a strong 1,000 nT (nanotesla) magnetic anomaly covering a roughly 4 by 8-kilometre area and is immediately south of a major crustal structure.
The Olympic Dam deposit also produces a 1,000 nT magnetic anomaly.
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The Arunta West Copper-Gold Project is around 600 kilometres west of Alice Springs and is between the Pokali mineral occurrences to the west and Independence Group Ltd’s (ASX:IGO) Lake MacKay project to the east.
The project is a joint venture with Jervois Mining Ltd (ASX:JRV) and comprises three tenements covering 345 square kilometres.