Targeting Ernest Henry Style Copper-Gold Mineralisation
AusQuest Limited (ASX: AQD) has commenced drilling at the Hamilton Copper Project in north-west Queensland under the company’s Strategic Alliance Agreement (SAA) with a wholly-owned subsidiary of South32.
The overall programme will comprise four diamond drill-holes for ~2,000m, with three holes (~1,500m) designed to test discrete magnetic/gravity targets that occur within the potassic alteration halo defined by earlier drilling.
The size of the alteration halo is similar to that reported at the Ernest Henry copper-gold deposit, located ~250km to the north.
The location of drill-sites was optimised by detailed modelling of recently acquired aeromagnetic data which has provided greater control on target geometries and depths. The holes are planned to be drilled to depths of ~500m.
A fourth drill-hole (~400m) will provide an initial test of a new magnetic/gravity target located ~15km to the north of the main target area, within a similar interpreted tectono- stratigraphic setting. The coincident magnetic/gravity response is thought to reflect another possible Ernest Henry-style target.
Drilling is expected to take approximately 3-4 weeks to complete with assays available within four weeks of the completion of drilling.
The Hamilton Project is located in north-west Queensland, ~120km south of the world-class Cannington mine, which is owned and operated by South32. Exploration is targeting Iron- Oxide Copper-Gold (IOCG) mineralisation similar to that found at the Ernest Henry mine.
AusQuest’s Managing Director, Graeme Drew, said the ~500m deep diamond holes at the Hamilton prospect should provide a comprehensive test of this priority exploration target, following the successful definition of a large alteration footprint in the area. “The four holes are designed to test specific geophysical targets within the alteration footprint that was defined by our earlier wide-spaced drilling,” he said.
