Large HEM Survey Underway Over WA Nickel, Copper And PGE Project
AusQuest Limited (ASX: AQD) has commenced an extensive helicopter-borne electromagnetic (HEM) survey at its Morrisey Nickel-Copper-PGE Project in Western Australia, under its Strategic Alliance Agreement (SAA) with a wholly-owned subsidiary of South32 Limited.
Approximately 2,260km of HEM will be surveyed over three priority target areas targeting nickel- copper-PGE sulphide mineralisation similar to that found at Nova-Bollinger in the Fraser Range of WA and, more recently, at Julimar, north of Perth – which highlighted the untested nickel-copper-PGE potential of the western margin of the Yilgarn Craton.
The Morrisey Project covers an area of ~1,200 sq. km and extends for a strike length of ~80km along the north-western margin of the Yilgarn Craton within the high grade metamorphic Narryer Terrane of WA.
The Project was initially secured to cover magnetic targets indicative of mafic/ultramafic host rocks in a similar tectono-stratigraphic setting to the Julimar (and possibly Nova-Bollinger) discoveries.
Regional soil sampling across the priority target areas indicates the presence of prospective mafic/ultramafic rock types in the area, as well as several nickel-copper soil anomalies with the potential to reflect nickel sulphide mineralisation.
The HEM survey will be conducted by NRG Australia using the Xcite HEM system along flight lines 150m apart. The survey should take approximately two weeks to complete, with final processed data available within four weeks of completing the survey.
AusQuest Managing Director Graeme Drew said the data from the HEM survey would allow the Strategic Alliance to vector in to potential drilling locations.
“The Morrisey Project already has several compelling targets based on analogies that we are able to draw with the new Ni-Cu-PGE discovery at Julimar and the well-known nickel-copper prospectivity of the Fraser Range Belt, where discoveries were made using the electromagnetic method,” he said.
“Our focus will be to identify targets for drilling as soon as we can following the completion of the HEM survey.”
