Native Mineral Resources Holdings Limited’s (ASX: NMR) second diamond drill hole has confirmed the presence of further pervasive IOCG-style alteration footprint at its 100%-owned Helios Project, located in the Nullarbor region of Western Australia.
Drill hole HELIOS_DDH002 will now continue drilling to 1000m to test the deeper extent of the alteration and to target the potential copper and gold mineralisation typically associated with similar systems such as Ernest Henry IOCG.
“The initial results we are obtaining from drilling at Helios are extremely exciting and demonstrate that the company has successfully identified a large IOCG-style alteration system,” Managing Director, Blake Cannavo, said.
“The rocks are similar to the IOCG-style, hematite-magnetite-rich rocks drilled in the first diamond drill hole completed over 500m to the south. We believe that large alteration footprints such as this are a good indicator of a potentially large zone of mineralisation nearby.
?NMR will continue the current drill hole to at least 1000m depth to test the full extent of the alteration.
“NMR is one of the only explorers to have completed diamond drilling in this part of the Nullarbor region, so the fact that we are generating more positive outcomes from the second drill hole is highly encouraging and further supports the potential of this region to host a major IOCG-style mineral deposit.
“We have an aggressive exploration pipeline mapped out for our entire project suite over the coming months and I look forward to providing progress updates at regular intervals.”
Helios targeting NMR have already obtained positive results from forward modelling of its high-resolution drone-based magnetics data and based on these findings, has completed a single diamond drill hole to a depth of 500m.
Following the completion of Helios_DDH001, NMR undertook a detailed ground gravity survey.
The results revealed a gravity high to the west of the magnetic high and structurally above the west-plunging C1 and C2 magnetic modelled bodies. The current drill hole is aimed at testing the composition of the rocks triggering the gravity high response.
The planned diamond drill hole is an EIS co-funded hole specifically designed to follow up on current results.
The Helios_DDH002 drill hole has been oriented to target a modelled gravity anomaly located approximately 300- 350m below the surface and structurally above the C1 magnetic unit.
Diamond drill hole HELIOS_DDH002 is currently at approximately 740m depth and the company will now continue the drill hole to at least 1000m depth owing to the presence of increasingly pervasive IOCG-style hematite-magnetite-sericite and potassic alteration in the drill core being recovered.
NMR has been granted three tenements in the Nullarbor region of SE Western Australia(E69/3849, E69/3850 and E69/3852).
The three tenements are located over potential iron-oxide copper-gold (IOCG)- and Porhphyry-style mineralisation. As reported on 16th May 2022, NMR completed its maiden diamond drilling programme at the Helios Project and intersected what the company considers to be significant IOCG-style alteration including felsic breccias with hematite, magnetite, and pervasive hematite alteration of host granites.
A common signature or “fingerprint” of IOCG systems is the close association between magnetic highs and gravity highs. Deposits such as Ernest Henry, Prominent Hill, and Brumby are examples where this correlation is observed.
As described above, NMR is targeting the central gravity high derived from the modelling of a ground-based gravity survey over the Helios project area. NMR are currently drilling the gravity anomaly and will release the results from the drilling once completed in early September.
This announcement is an update on current drilling with several photos of the drill core being recovered from HELIOS_DDH002 near the current depth of drilling.
For further information please visit: https://nmresources.com.au/
